2017 GOP Tax Bill

House Tax Bill (day , week)

1. Statement by Bruce Bartlett before the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee On Tax Reform, November 1, 2017 - Second, the Republican claim that a cut in the corporate tax rate will raise wages is just complete nonsense. We cut the corporate tax rate by 12 percentage points in 1986, to 34 percent from 46 percent, and wages fell. They fell for 10 years after enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
2. House Tax Bill Is Littered With Loopholes for Wall Street’s Wealthiest - Zachary Mider, Bloomberg, November 21, 2017 - Lawmakers who sped a bill through the U.S. House last week may have handed a few more goodies to Wall Street’s wealthiest than they realize.
3. The House Tax Plan is Conveniently Full of “Drafting Glitches” that Benefit the Rich - Bess Levin, Vanity Fair, November 21, 2017 - Tax experts have reportedly found an “unusual” number of “drafting glitches” and loopholes that, whether they were “intentional or accidental,” would save the country’s richest a whole lot of money.
4. Graduate Students Sound Alarm on Huge Increases Under GOP Tax Plan: ‘I Would Be Hopelessly Priced Out' - Katie Reilly, Time, November 21, 2017 - But the House tax bill would classify graduate students’ tuition waivers — which they receive in exchange for teaching or conducting research — as taxable income, a measure that Hill estimates would cut his take-home salary nearly in half.

Senate Tax Bill (day , week)

1. Senate tax bill would cut taxes of wealthy and increase taxes on families earning less than $75,000 by 2027 - Heather Long, Washington Post, November 16, 2017 - The tax bill Senate Republicans are championing would give large tax cuts to the rich while raising taxes on American families earning $10,000 to $75,000 over the next decade, according to a report released Thursday by the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’s official nonpartisan analysts.
2. Senate Releases Tax Bill Text in ‘Unusually Fast’ March to Vote - Suhil Kapur, Bloomberg, November 21, 2017 - The Senate released the 515-page text of its sweeping tax legislation for the first time Monday evening -- and Republican leaders plan to hold a floor vote on it within 10 days.
3. A report shows the Senate GOP tax bill ultimately raises taxes on 50 percent of people. That’s a problem. - Aaron Blake, Washington Post, November 21, 2017 - The report from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, released Monday, contains this very unhelpful passage: On average in 2027, taxes would rise modestly for the lowest-income group, change little for middle-income groups, and decrease for higher-income groups. Compared to current law, 9 percent of taxpayers would pay more in 2019, 12 percent in 2025, and 50 percent in 2027.
4. Economic growth would not pay for Senate tax cuts, analysis says - Jacob Pramuk, CNBC, November 21, 2017 - The amended Senate GOP proposal would reduce federal revenues by between $1.3 trillion and $1.5 trillion in the decade through 2027, even with modestly stronger gross domestic product growth, the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated Tuesday. U.S. debt would rise in a range of $1.4 trillion to $1.6 trillion in that period, driven by increased debt service, the analysis said.
5. New Report Details '13 Terrible Things' About Senate GOP Tax Plan - Common Dreams, November 21, 2017 - Americans for Tax Fairness warns that the bill gives most of the tax cuts to the richest 1%, makes 82 million middle-class families pay more in taxes, and endangers funding for public services.
6. New Analysis Finds Senate Tax Bill Results in Premium Increases for Many Who Buy Their Own Coverage; Wealthiest to Benefit Most from Any Offsetting Tax Cuts - The Commonwealth Fund, November 21, 2017 - The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the repeal would save the federal government $338 billion between 2018 and 2027, resulting from lower federal costs for premium tax credits and Medicaid.
7. The 3 False Promises Of The GOP's Tax Plan - Tony Nitti, Forbes, November 22, 2017 - Promise #1: The Tax Cuts Will Pay for Themselves... Myth #2: This is a Middle-Class Tax Cut... Myth #3: The Richest 1% Don't Benefit Under the GOP Plan
8. Senate tax reform markup opts to keep tax exemption for graduate students - Adam Sabes, Red Alert Politics, November 22, 2017 - The Senate tax plan keeps tuition waivers as a tax exemption - unlike the plan passed by the House last Thursday.
9. Republicans Against the Tax Bill - Jibran Khan, National Review, November 22, 2017 - Susan Collins (Maine) questions the inclusion of individual-mandate repeal and the removal of SALT deductions. And Ron Johnson (Wis.) opposes the different treatment of different kinds of business taxes. Senators Bob Corker (Tenn.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Todd Young (Ind.), and James Lankford (Okla.) have emphasized the dangerous effects of further expanding the deficit.
10. Out of 42 top economists, only 1 believes the GOP tax bills would help the economy - Ezra Klein, Vox, November 22, 2017 - Of the 42 economists polled, only one thought the Republican bill would boost the economy. The plurality said it wouldn’t, and the remainder were uncertain or didn’t answer.
11. The GOP tax plan got a triple whammy of brutal reviews - Bob Bryan, Business Insider, November 23, 2017 - The Tax Policy Center found that more than 50% of Americans would see a tax increase in 2027 under the bill... Only one out of 42 economists surveyed by the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business said the bill would increase economic growth substantially... The Penn-Wharton Budget Model found that the bill would blow a hole in the federal deficit.
12. New dynamic score shows the Senate tax bill raises debt by more than advertised - Matthew Yglesias, Vox, November 24, 2017 - The problem, according to a pair of new analyses by the Penn-Wharton Budget Project, is that the Senate Republicans’ tax bill would increase federal debt by more than advertised, and increased debt accumulation would counteract much — or potentially all — of the positive growth impact of tax cuts. The result will likely be lower incomes for the bottom half of the income distribution even before considering the negative impact of inevitable spending cuts to offset the surprisingly low federal tax intake.
13. Senate GOP tax bill would cost $1.4 trillion, hit poor and middle class harder than estimated, CBO says - Peter Weber, The Week, November 26, 2017 - On Sunday, the Congressional Budget Office released its analysis of the tax overhaul Senate Republicans hope to pass this week, and like a previous analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), it found that the bill would increase the federal deficit by about $1.4 trillion over 10 years.
14. CBO: Senate GOP Tax Bill Favors High Earners Over Low Income Taxpayers - Alice Ollstein, Talking Points Memo, November 27, 2017 - The Congressional Budget Office dropped a new analysis Sunday night of the Senate Republican tax bill that could pass later this week after zero hearings and minimal debate showing the bill would significantly cut taxes for people in the top income brackets while raising them for people making less than $30,000 a year.
15. GOP tax bill remains hazardous for deficit hawks - John Harwood, CNBC, November 28, 2017 - Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, for example, vows to oppose any bill that increases the deficit by even a penny. Yet the budget framework for tax cuts that he helped design expressly permits $1.5 trillion in higher deficits over the next 10 years.
16. Here’s Where the GOP Tax Plan Stands Right Now - Bloomberg News, November 29, 2017 - GOP leaders plan to bring the tax measure to the Senate floor with a vote on a motion to proceed. After up to 20 hours of debate, the chamber will begin considering a series of amendments proposed by senators in what’s known as a “vote-a-rama” marathon that’s likely to end with an amendment by Republican leaders incorporating all the changes. A final vote is expected Thursday or Friday, barring a significant setback.
17. Top tax economist says the GOP bill is 'crazy' and 'stupid' - Bob Bryan, Business Insider, November 29, 2017 - Martin Sullivan, an economist and longtime federal tax analyst, told Business Insider the GOP tax bill was "crazy" and "stupid." Sullivan says the rushed process Republicans are using to try to pass the bill is wasteful and could hurt the legislation in the long run. He says the bill is unlikely to produce substantial economic gains.
18. Trump's Tax Promises Undercut by CEO Plans to Help Investors - Toluse Olorunnipa, Bloomberg, November 29, 2017 - Major companies including Cisco Systems Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. say they’ll turn over most gains from proposed corporate tax cuts to their shareholders, undercutting President Donald Trump’s promise that his plan will create jobs and boost wages for the middle class.
19. Senate tax bill will reportedly raise pass-through deduction to 20% - Jacob Pramuk,CNBC, November 30, 2017 - A tweaked Senate tax bill would increase the income tax deduction for pass-through businesses to 20 percent from 17.4 percent, Bloomberg and Politico reported, citing unnamed senators. It would not change the headline rate at which those entities' income is taxed. The change appears to be designed to earn support from Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Steve Daines, R-Mont.
20. Here's who would be the winners and losers under the latest Senate Republican tax bill - Bob Bryan, Business Insider, November 30, 2017 - The analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation, prepared on Monday and leaked late Wednesday, found that the GOP bill, named the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, would increase taxes for some Americans as soon as 2019. By 2027, according to the analysis, nearly all Americans would see an increase or no cut at all.
21. GOP senator says tax cuts must be followed by 'structural changes to Social Security and Medicare' - Peter Weber, The Week, November 30, 2017 - "I analyze this very differently than most," Rubio said. "Many argue that you can't cut taxes because it will drive up the deficit. But we have to do two things. We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future." He suggested reducing benefits and raising the retirement age for future retirees, so people can prepare for the changes.
22. Even with growth, the Senate tax bill still adds $1 trillion to deficits - Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, November 30, 2017 - JCT's macroeconomic analysis -- also known as a dynamic score -- falls far short of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's oft-made claim that the proposed tax cuts will pay for themselves.
23. Winners and losers in the Senate GOP tax bill: A running list - Heather Long, Wonkblog, Washington Post, December 1, 2017 - Republicans in the Senate just passed a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code, the largest change since Ronald Reagan's presidency. The bill zipped through the process in a mere three weeks (you can get a quick rundown of what's in the bill here).
24. Congress Achieves the Impossible on Tax Reform - Editorial Board, Bloomberg View, December 2, 2017 - In their rush to pass something, anything, that they can call "tax reform," congressional Republicans have achieved the impossible: They have made an awful plan even worse.
25. GOP Senator Implies Those Who Aren't Millionaires Waste Money On 'Booze, Women' - Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost, December 3, 2017 - In an astonishing defense of dropping “death taxes” for individual estates worth more than $5.5 million, GOP Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley implied that people not currently affected by that tax are “spending every darn penny ... on booze or women.”
26. The 4 Most Ridiculous Things Tucked Into the Senate Tax Bill - Jill Filipovic, Cosmopolitan, December 4, 2017 - 1. Undermines abortion rights... 2. Helps to fund private schools while making it harder to fund public education... 3. Guts the Affordable Care Act... 4. Ravages Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by allowing more oil and gas drilling
27. Among the Tax Bill’s Biggest Losers: High-Income, Blue State Taxpayers - Alicia Parlapiano and K.K. Rebecca Lai, New York Times, December 5, 2017 - While the Republican tax overhaul would add up to an overall tax cut for individual taxpayers, at least through 2025, millions could still immediately receive a tax increase. For many, particularly those in Democratic areas who earn $200,000 or more, the increase would come from the repeal of the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT.
28. 'Holy crap': Experts find tax plan riddled with glitches - Brian Faler, Politico, December 6, 2017 - Republicans’ tax-rewrite plans are riddled with bugs, loopholes and other potential problems that could plague lawmakers long after their legislation is signed into law. Some of the provisions could be easily gamed, tax lawyers say. Their plans to cut taxes on “pass-through” businesses in particular could open broad avenues for tax avoidance.

Final Tax Bill (day , week)

1. GOP Tax Plan: Live Coverage - Official Side-by-Side Comparison of Tax Bills, December 7, 2017 - The Joint Committee on Taxation has released its official comparison between the House and Senate tax bills. JCT compares House and Senate versions of TCJA: https://go.usa.gov/xnNcZ (download)
2. The Republican tax bill that could actually become law, explained - Dylan Matthews, Vox, December 14, 2017 - It sets a top individual income tax rate of 37 percent, below 38.5 percent in the Senate bill and 39.6 percent in the House bill (which is also the rate under current law). It finances that with a slightly higher corporate tax rate of 21 percent.
3. Republicans have a final deal on their tax bill — here's what's in it - Bob Bryan, Business Insider, December 14, 2017 - The bill proposes cutting the corporate tax rate to 21% — higher than the 20% in the House and Senate versions but still much lower than the current 35%. It would also lower the top individual tax rate to 37% from the current 39.6%, a more generous cut than the Senate version had proposed.
4. Here’s What’s In the Final Draft of the GOP Tax Bill - Eric Levitz, New York Magazine, December 15, 2017 - Congressional Republicans unveiled the final draft of their plan to exacerbate economic inequality in the United States – or, as they put it, “reform the tax code” – at 5:30 pm, Friday afternoon. Which is clearly the time that you would release your tax bill if you were certain that voters will love it, and wanted to make sure as many of them learn about its details as possible.
5. Read the Full Tax Bill and the Summary, Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2017 at 5:51 pm ET - Here is the statement laying out the details of the tax bill, and the more than 1,000-page full tax bill.
6. Cost Estimate for the Conference Agreement on H.R. 1 - Congressional Budget Office, December 15, 2017 - According to CBO’s and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation’s (JCT) estimates, enacting H.R. 1 would reduce revenues by about $1,649 billion and decrease outlays by about $194 billion over the period from 2018 to 2027, leading to an increase in the deficit of $1,455 billion over the next 10 years. Those estimates do not incorporate the effects of macroeconomic feedback.
7. JCT Estimates: Final GOP Tax Bill Skewed to Top, Hurts Many Low- and Middle-Income Americans - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, December 19, 2017 - Under the amended bill, in 2025 (when most of its provisions would be in place), high-income households would get the largest tax cuts as a share of after-tax income, on average, while households with incomes below $30,000 would on average face a tax increase. By 2027, when many of its provisions would have expired, those at the top would still get large tax cuts, but every income group below $75,000 would face tax increases, on average.

Doubles the standard deduction and child tax credit (day , week)

1. Families will feel the pain of losing this tax break - Darla Mercado, CNBC, December 20, 2017 - Of all the breaks that are on the chopping block due to the Republican tax overhaul, families may miss the personal exemption the most.
2. The Tax Cuts Act Follows through on President Donald J. Trump’s Promise of Middle Class Tax Cuts, December 20, 2017 - The Tax Cuts Act nearly doubles the standard deduction... American families will see their Child Tax Credit doubled to $2,000 per child under age 17... Families will receive a new $500 tax credit for dependents age 17 or older.

73,000 2,059 (day , week)

1. How Republicans misled the American public on their tax bill - Tara Golshan, VOX, December 22, 2017 - From misleading statements to downright lies: three ways Republicans broke commitments on their tax bill.

41,000 1,300 (day , week)

1. Taxpayer Examples, House and Senate Conference Committee, December, 2017 - A family of four with income of around $73,000 (median family income) will see a tax cut of more than $2,000.

Tax Cut on Reddit (day , week)

Tax bill website (day , week)

1. Committee on Rules - Rules Committee Active Bills - Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 1 - Tax Cuts and Jobs Act - Read More - View Copy of Bill
2. Republican National Committee - Paycheck President - The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will deliver real tax relief to Americans across the country – especially low- and middle-income Americans who have been struggling for far too long to earn a raise and get ahead. With this bill, a typical middle-income family of four, earning $59,000 (the median household income), will receive a $1,182 tax cut.
3. Wall Street Journal - GOP Tax Plan: Live Coverage - Join WSJ's tax-policy experts to follow the twists and turns of Congress’s attempt to make the most significant tax-code changes since 1986.
4. Ways and Means Committee - Tax Cuts and Jobs Act - The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will deliver real tax relief to Americans across the country – especially low- and middle-income Americans who have been struggling for far too long to earn a raise and get ahead. With this bill, a typical middle-income family of four, earning $59,000 (the median household income), will receive a $1,182 tax cut.

Taxpayer examples (day , week)

1. Heritage Foundation - Most Retirees Would Save Money Because of Tax Reform. Here Are Some Key Examples. - December 7, 2017 - Retirees may be the most concerned about what tax reform will mean for them, as most rely on relatively fixed incomes. But in fact, the proposed reforms are mostly good news for retirees. For the most part, they would be less affected than other Americans, as the proposed reforms would not change the way Social Security and investment income are taxed.
2. Senate Committee on Finance - The Senate Tax Proposal Delivers Benefits Directly to the Middle Class - November 21, 2017 - Family of four earning $73,000 | Single parent with one child earning $41,000 | Married small business owners with income of $100,000
3. Tax Foundation - Who Gets a Tax Cut Under the Amended Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act? - November 21, 2017 Last week, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) released modifications to the “Chairman’s Mark” to the Senate’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The amendment slightly tweaked ordinary brackets and rates from the original proposal, substantially increased the child tax credit from the proposed $1,650 to $2,000 per qualifying child, and made many individual provisions temporary. For more details on the amended Senate bill, my colleague Nicole has a great summary.
4. Ways and Means Committee - How the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Helps Americans of All Walks of Life - Family of Four Making $59,000 Per Year | Single Mother Making $30,000 Per Year | Firefighter Making $48,000 Per Year | New Homeowners Making $115,000 Per Year in a High Tax State | Local Small Business Making $500,000 in Income | Main Street Startup Company Making $62,000 in Income
5. These Unusually Rich Sample Tax-Plan Families Are All Too Real - Henry Grabar, Slate, December 21, 2017 - The point being that statisticians use the median, not the average, to illustrate what’s typical. When it comes to household earnings, the distinction isn’t trivial: Mean family income in 2016 was $97,000. Median family income was closer to $73,000. Median household income (including non-families) was another $14,000 lower still.

House Tax Bill - Ways and Means Committee (day , week)

1. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act - Communications and Policy Details
2. Taxpayer Examples from the Committee on Ways and Means
3. The Problems with "Taxpayer Examples"
4. Who Will See Their Taxes Go Up under the House and Senate Plans?

Senate Tax Bill - Senate Committee on Finance (day , week)

1. Senate Committee on Finance - The Senate Committee on Finance has legislative jurisdiction on matters relating to taxation, debt, customs, foreign trade, and health programs under the Social Security Act such as Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and other health and human services programs financed by a specific tax or trust fund. (source)
2. Description of the Chairman's Mark of the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act"
3. Finance Committee releases statutory text of Senate tax reform bill - TAX ALERT, RSM, November 21, 2017 - On November 21, the Senate Committee on Finance released the statutory language of its tax reform proposal. The text reveals some additional information about various aspects of the proposal, including proposed new limitations on ‘active’ losses of individuals and the rules governing a proposed deduction to reduce the tax burden on certain pass-through businesses. The full text of the bill can be found here.
4. The Senate Tax Proposal Delivers Benefits Directly to the Middle Class - Senate Committee on Finance, November 21, 2017 - A family of four with income of around $73,000 (median family income) will see a tax cut of nearly $2,200... A single parent with one child earning $41,000 will see a tax cut of nearly $1,400.

Tax calculations (day , week)

1. Interactive Application for Comparison of Tax Plans
2. The Trump tax calculator — will you pay more or less? - MarketWatch, November 22, 2017 - Estimate how both the House and Senate plan would impact your finances.
3. 2017 vs 2018 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Qualification and Income Thresholds, Saving2Invest - Below are the EITC tables for the past few years. These are adjusted annually in line with inflation and other government mandates.
4. IRS Announces 2018 Tax Brackets, Standard Deduction Amounts, And More, Kelly Phillips Erb, October 19, 2017 - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the annual inflation adjustments for a number of tax-related provisions for 2018, including, of course, the latest tax rate schedules and tax tables.
5. Meet Paul Ryan’s ‘Cindy,’ a single mom who he says gets $700 from the tax bill - Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, November 21, 2017 - The touching tale of Cindy only tells half the story. At the beginning, she likely would be happy to find an additional $700 in her tax refund. But as the tax bill is written, that savings is frittered away over time.
6. Who Gets a Tax Cut Under the Amended Senate Tax Cuts and Jobs Act? - Tax Foundation, November 21, 2017 - Last week, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) released modifications to the “Chairman’s Mark” to the Senate’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The amendment slightly tweaked ordinary brackets and rates from the original proposal, substantially increased the child tax credit from the proposed $1,650 to $2,000 per qualifying child, and made many individual provisions temporary
7. In Charts, How These 7 Taxpayers’ Bills Would Change If Tax Reform Was Enacted - Rachel Greszler, The Daily Signal, November 22, 2017 - Well, on net, most Americans will see a significant tax cut under the proposed plans from Republican lawmakers, including virtually all lower- and middle-income workers and a majority of upper-income earners.