Forget the Original Republican Tax Plan -- It's Already Changed
Congressional Republicans released their proposal for tax reform on Nov. 2, and it included major provisions with implications for every American taxpayer. Changes to individual and corporate tax rates, the boosting of the standard deduction, and the elimination of many popular itemized deductions have garnered a lot of attention from policymakers. Yet by the time most people read about these provisions, there's a risk that they'll be out of date, because lawmakers are making further revisions to the proposal at breakneck speed in order to keep proponents onboard and boost the chance of eventual passage.
Lawmakers on Friday started to make revisions to the tax plan that they had introduced just a day before. Most of the changes were designed to make it easier for the bill to meet the requirements of the process that Republicans have chosen for passage. In order to pass the bill as part of a budget reconciliation that will avoid Senate rules that could lead to a Democratic filibuster, proponents of the bill have to make sure that the net cost of the proposed law changes is less than the authorized amount of $1.5 trillion.
As wrangling over certain aspects of the plan continues, the bill's proponents are looking for breathing room from a budgetary perspective. Some lawmakers would prefer less of a negative impact on the national debt, while others want to restore certain breaks that the original legislation would have eliminated. That requires coming up with potential offsets to cut the official cost of the proposal.
Source: Fool.com
