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The GOP tax plan was passed through the Senate Friday night in a 51-49 vote. There are a number of things included in the last-minute text, including a provision by Sen. Gardner of Colorado that exempts Kombucha, a fermented tea drink, from alcoholic taxes and regulations. Why it matters: These are small examples of what got slipped in the bill last-minute as the Senate vote neared, and reveals some of the senators' pet projects back in their home states. Odd amendments included in the tax plan: Sen. Orrin Hatch Prohibit things like cash and gift cards to be given as...

In the early hours of Saturday morning, the Senate passed a sweeping tax overhaul bill in largely party-line vote. Just one Republican, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, voted against it on deficit concerns. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost $1.47 trillion over a decade. Many Republicans continue to say the bill will pay for itself through greater economic growth, despite all analyses to the contrary. The final Senate bill differs from the tax bill passed by the House in mid-November. Those differences now must be reconciled and a final piece of legislation voted on by both chambers.

Senate Republicans have approved the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate as part of their tax-cut bill, a major step forward toward ending an unpopular part of the healthcare law. “Families ought to be able to make decisions about what they want to buy and what works for them –not the government,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said, hailing the accomplishment.

Senate Republicans have delayed voting on their tax bill as a setback forced them to patch up the plan only hours before a planned final vote. Senators will rework the legislation Thursday night with the next in a series of roll call votes set for 11 a.m. on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Republicans previously hoped they could pass a plan by late Thursday or early Friday. A hiccup earlier Thursday left the GOP scrambling to tweak its bill and win over skeptical senators. The delay does not necessarily mean Republicans will lack the votes to pass the...

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said early Thursday that she expects legislation to lower health-care premiums to pass Congress before senators take a final vote on a $1.5 trillion tax-reform bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. “When you take out that one provision from the ACA it causes premiums to go up as healthier, younger people leave the market place,” she said. Senate GOP leaders at the urging of conservatives have added to the tax package a provision that would repeal ObamaCare’s requirement that people purchase health coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that could cause insurance...

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a key holdout on the Republican tax bill, says a proposal to establish a trigger pulling back tax cuts in case economic projects fall short hasn’t been resolved. The lack of an agreement puts the votes of Corker and at least two other deficit hawks, Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), in jeopardy. Asked if there was agreement on the trigger, Corker replied, “no.” “An offer has been made and we’re dealing with it and other issues,” Corker said. The proposal under discussion would rollback tax relief and raise about $350 billion over 10...

Republican Sen. John McCain announced his support Thursday for the Senate tax reform bill, boosting the chances for passage of the sweeping legislation.

Once again, it could all come down to Senator John McCain. After sinking his party’s hopes of repealing the Affordable Care Act this year with a dramatic thumbs-down, the fate of a tax overhaul may now sit in the hands of the Republican from Arizona. In recent days, Mr. McCain has been fairly tight-lipped about his views on the tax proposal speeding through the Senate, saying he sees some problems with the existing bill but is waiting for a final plan before making a decision. Asked about what concerned him about the Senate tax bill this week, Mr. McCain replied...

If you have ever wondered why leaders of liberal cities and states become giddy at any new spending opportunity – investments into light rail infrastructure, social programs for illegal aliens, public schools that look like palaces, billion-dollar sports stadiums – it is not because they are more public-minded than Republicans, or possess an innate sense of altruism. It is because such projects get them re-elected, especially when people other than their constituents are picking up the tab. And, thanks largely to the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction for federal income tax purposes, that is exactly what is happening. In...

Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) are demanding that the tax reform bill include a trigger that automatically raises taxes in the future if tax receipts fall below projections. This is a bad idea. Raising taxes is never a good policy, but this provision also adds complexity and uncertainty to the tax code that will limit its impact on economic growth. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake want people to believe they're concerned about the deficit, but if that were true they would not have supported so many bills to increase the debt limit and increase spending. If there...

The House and Senate are considering tax legislation that will add $1.5 trillion to annual deficits over the next 10 years, according to their own numbers. This is okay, we're told, because the tax cuts will stoke economic growth, delivering added tax revenue that offsets the rate reductions. Note the bigger point here. Republicans still say they don’t like deficits — but apparently, this particular plan lets them cut taxes without adding more debt. It’s a miracle. Is their claim really true? Will the GOP tax plans boost economic growth? That’s the 1.5-trillion-dollar question. Theory vs. Reality The Republican plan’s...

Sen. Rand Paul on Monday announced he plans to vote for the Senate tax plan as it currently stands, handing GOP leaders a key “yes” vote ahead of a potential floor vote later in the week. Mr. Paul said he’d like the tax cut to be even bigger than the nearly $1.5 trillion price tag, but that he’s pleased lawmakers included a repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate in the plan. “I’m not getting everything I want — far from it,” the Kentucky Republican wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News. “But I’ve been immersed in this process. I’ve fought...

Key Findings The Senate’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would reform both individual income and corporate income taxes and would move the United States to a territorial system of business taxation. According to the Tax Foundation’s Taxes and Growth Model, the plan would significantly lower marginal tax rates and the cost of capital, which would lead to a 3.7 percent increase in GDP over the long term, 2.9 percent higher wages, and an additional 925,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The Senate’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a pro-growth tax plan, which, when fully implemented,...

November 21,2017202-224-4515, Katie Niederee & Julia LawlessThe Senate Tax Proposal Delivers Benefits Directly to the Middle Class Under Finance Committee Plan, a Typical Family of Four Will See Tax Bill Drop by Nearly 60 percent The Finance Committee tax overhaul delivers benefits directly to the working and middle class through doubling the standard deduction and the child tax credit, as well as lowering rates across the board. Take a look at the real world impact of the Senate plan:Family of four earning $73,000 A family of four with income of around $73,000 (median family income) will see a tax cut...

The head of Americans for Tax Reform says he's confident that reform package will be signed into law before December 12 Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) cheered Thursday’s passage of a $1.5 trillion tax cut, but he was feeling as much trepidation as elation knowing his party’s number-one domestic policy goal is now in the hands of the fickle Senate. Byrne was blunt in the statement he released after the 227-205 vote. Tax Overhaul Drama Moves to U.S. Senate as House Approves its Bill "I truly hope the Senate does not let us down yet again," he stated. "They should pass...

Senate Republican leaders are adding a provision to their tax bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, a major change as they now try to accomplish two of their top domestic priorities in a single piece of legislation. “We’re optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful” to the tax effort, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday after meeting with party members during a closed-door lunch. President Trump and many GOP lawmakers have supported using the tax bill to repeal the mandate, a part of the health care law that creates penalties for...

Congressional analysts are estimating that the Republican Senate tax bill would increase taxes in 2019 for some 13.8 million U.S. households earning less than $200,000 a year. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation provided the analysis Monday as the Senate’s tax-writing committee begins work on its version of the tax overhaul bill. The legislation, promoted as a boon to the middle class, would steeply cut corporate taxes, double the standard deduction, and limit or repeal completely the federal deduction for state and local property and income taxes. The analysis of the Senate plan says 13.8 million households, or about 10...

As we now know, both chambers of Congress have introduced their versions of legislation to overhaul our tax system, or, rather, the tax code. Some say it is reform, others more properly say it is merely a tax cut for the wealthiest and most powerful of American persons and corporations at the hands of those less fortunate, the middle class. But to give the rich their largesse, the middle class is being looked to as the sacrificial lamb by having certain deductions stripped away from them. Among the most critical of these deductions are the ones that make home ownership——the...

The Senate tax overhaul would fully repeal the state and local tax deduction, according to a GOP aide and senator. Democrats were quick to pounce on the news, saying the House GOP’s move to allow some state and local tax deductions to stay for property taxes was just a fig leaf. “The Republicans in the House thought they were throwing a few crumbs to members to get them to walk the plank,” House Minority Nancy Pelosi said of the House GOP plan to provide for a maximum $10,000 deduction for state and local property taxes. “That is not in the...