House Republicans Release Promised Tax Bill
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the long-awaited tax reform bill on November 2, 2017. The bill, titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Bill”), proposes fundamental changes to the existing tax code and, if enacted, would have significant implications for the taxation of businesses, individuals and tax-exempt entities. Among the numerous changes included in the Bill, which are generally effective for tax years beginning after 2017, are a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate, a partial limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense, a new maximum tax rate for individuals receiving certain business income from “pass-through” entities, and significant changes to deductions for individual taxpayers including a repeal of the deduction for state and local income taxes. The Bill also partially shifts the taxation of multinational corporations from a tax on worldwide income to a territorial system. The cost of the Bill is expected to be $1.5 trillion or more over the next decade.