This is a long article. Here are some of the highlights.


Republican Tax Plan Cuts Middle Class and Corporate Taxes, Leaves Retirement Savings Safe
by John Carney
2 Nov 2017

House Republicans unveiled their bill to overhaul the U.S. tax code Thursday morning.

We’ll follow along with the news and analysis of the bill all day. Refresh this page for the latest updates.

Here are the highlights:

The House bill reportedly will permanently and immediately cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Lawmakers dropped earlier plans to phase-in the tax cut over a number of years or have the cut sunset in the future, both measures aimed at reducing–on paper, at least–their impact on long-term budget deficits.

The pass-through rate will be 25 percent, a huge cut for many small-businesses organized as sole-proprietorships and partnerships.

As first reported by Breitbart in August, the bill will impose a one-time tax on corporate profits that have been accumulated and held abroad. By taxing these profits at 12 percent on a one-time basis, the bill eliminates the incentive for corporations to continue to avoid repatriating the funds and investing them in America or distributing them to shareholders. Illiquid corporate assets will be taxed at a lower rate of 5 percent.

The risky plan to change the way Americans save for retirement, and possibly raise taxes on middle-income Americans, has been dropped. The bill will not change 401(k)s, according to talking points distributed by the House GOP leadership.

The bill is named the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, breaking with recent Washington precedent of giving bills titles with acronyms that indicate the goals of the legislation.

The bill cuts the current seven individual tax brackets down to four: 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent, and 39.6%. Originally, the GOP framework planned to drop the 39.6 percent rate. It was preserved in an effort to prevent tax burden from shifting to lower income taxpayers.

A big question has been where the new brackets would break. Now we know. For individuals, the 25 percent rate starts at $45,000, the 35 percent rate at $200,000, and the 39.6 percent rate at $500,000. For married couples filing together, the 25 percent rate will start at $90,000, the 35 percent rate at $260,000, and the 39.6 percent rate at $1 million.

Standard deduction rises to $12,000 from $6,350 for individuals, and from $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples.

The House bill expands the child tax credit from $1,000 to $1,600, which is a smaller expansion than conservative lawmakers in the Senate had pushed for.

The threshold for the death tax will double from its current $5.6 million per person and $11.2 million per married couple. It would be ended altogether in 2024.

Corporate interest deductions get capped at 30 percent of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Small businesses and real estate firms, which are often highly leveraged, are exempt from the cap.

Next stop: markup city and the lobbyist feeding frenzy.

So what happens next?

The House Ways and Means Committee announced Thursday that it will begin consideration of the tax bill at noon on Monday, November 6.

This will not be a hearing, which would bring in witnesses that would testify and answer questions to lawmakers. Instead, it will be what is known as a “markup session.” Lawmakers on the committee will get an explanation of the bill from committee staff and then have the opportunity to propose amendments and make statements. The process is expected to take several days.

This is the time when lobbyists will work overtime to preserve their favored tax breaks. The real estate lobby, in particular, will work to undo the changes to the mortgage interest deduction.

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Goodbye private-activity bonds.

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CEOs and corporate fat cats get hit with a double-whammy

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Bill Kills Electric-Car Tax Credit

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Small-Business lobby group says it is not supporting the tax bill

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Protection for churches from the IRS.

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Big Sports takes a hit in the tax bill. Tax-exempt bonds can no longer be used to build professional sports stadiums under bill.

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As expected, the Alternative Minimum Tax will be repealed

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http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/...2/gop-tax-bill/