Posted on 01/16/2024 7:58:43 AM PST by Red Badger
The bipartisan agreement between the House and the Senate tackles priorities for both parties.
WASHINGTON — Senior lawmakers in Congress announced a bipartisan deal Tuesday to expand the child tax credit and provide a series of tax breaks for businesses.
The $78 billion tax agreement between House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., caps months of negotiating and pursuing common ground in the divided Congress.
“American families will benefit from this bipartisan agreement that provides greater tax relief, strengthens Main Street businesses, boosts our competitiveness with China, and creates jobs," Smith said in a statement. "We even provide disaster relief and cut red tape for small businesses, while ending a COVID-era program that’s costing taxpayers billions in fraud."
The deal, details of which were reported earlier by NBC News, would enhance refundable child tax credits in an attempt to provide relief to families that are struggling financially and those with multiple children. It would also lift the tax credit's $1,600 refundable cap and adjust it for inflation.
The new child tax credit policy would benefit about 16 million kids in low-income families, according to an analysis by the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “The expansion would meaningfully reduce child poverty,” CBPP wrote. “In the first year, the expansion would lift as many as 400,000 children above the poverty line. 3 million more children would be made less poor as their incomes rise closer to the poverty line.”
Democrats had demanded a larger child tax credit after an earlier version they passed for less than one year expired, causing child poverty to fall and then rise again after it lapsed. The new agreement would provide smaller benefits than the monthly payments under the American Rescue Plan.
“Fifteen million kids from low-income families will be better off as a result of this plan, and given today’s miserable political climate, it’s a big deal to have this opportunity to pass pro-family policy that helps so many kids get ahead,” Wyden said in a statement.
Republicans were motivated to revive some expired portions of the 2017 Trump tax cuts for businesses. The deal includes expensing for research and experimental costs, restoration of an earlier interest deduction, an expansion of small-business expensing and an extension of bonus depreciation, according to a section-by-section summary released by the Ways and Means Committee.
Wyden has said he hopes to pass the deal by the beginning of tax filing season, which is Jan. 29. That's not assured as Congress is juggling other priorities, most notably averting a government shutdown at the end of this week and completing its funding process by March. If it passes, it would be a rare success story of active legislating on a politically sensitive issue by a divided Congress that has so far been historically unproductive.
"My goal remains to get this passed in time for families and businesses to benefit in this upcoming tax filing season, and I’m going to pull out all the stops to get that done," Wyden said Tuesday.
What we really need is reducing regulations. Give freedom. Trump is good at that.
But we must remember with freedom, comes responsibilities. That has to become part of our culture again.
You want to expand business hiring?
Eliminate the new IRS regulations that force businesses to amortize software development costs over 5 years, instead of expensing them.
While you’re at it, allow businesses to expense a lot of other things that they have to amortize.
The Federal Government has no business regulating stoves, dishwashers or any appliances.
Where in the Constitution does it say the Fed gov can regulate the size of your toilet tank?
They’ve boiled the frog damn near to death..................
Yet I just had a discussion here about from the humor on road signs and a 5,100 page regulation was needed and justified for that point.
There is not much difference between liberals and conservatives. A law/regulation is the easiest way to fix every problem.
Regulations like that come from the liberals inherent desire to stop anybody from enjoying life..................Prove me wrong...............
Meanwhile Senior citizens get taxed for their SS benefits. No money for SS who live on SS and very little of pension or other sources of income. Some Seniors have had to tap into their savings due to COVID, INFLATION, ETC.
Some have had to go back to work. Widows/Widowers get hit with filing single in 2nd year (if no kids) vs. filing married or qualifying widow/widower (have to have dependent kids to file).
Their auto insurance goes up due to losing multi driver discount, car discount, etc. I got hit after husband died suddenly in 2022.
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