A revised Senate tax reform bill expands a key break for family farms and other small businesses, but also includes a key GOP goal to end the Obamacare individual mandate.
The reworked Senate Finance GOP bill expands tax relief for small businesses that ‘pass through’ company income as individuals. But Republicans set off a firestorm of protest from Democrats by proposing to end the Obamacare individual mandate tax penalty.
Top Finance panel Democrat Ron Wyden.
Finance Chairman Orin Hatch flipped that argument.
Hatch says zeroing it out means there’s more money to provide greater tax relief to middle class families through reduced penalties and lower overall rates.
The revised Senate GOP bill now further increases the child tax credit to 2-thousand dollars, lowers three tax brackets by up to 1-percent more, and expands availability of a lower tax rate for ‘pass-through’ business income for family farms and other small businesses.
The Senate bill also expands the estate tax exemption, keeps so-called ‘stepped-up basis’ for valuing estates, hastens and expands business expensing and cash accounting to more small businesses and farmers.
But, if Republicans can’t get enough of their own to pass their bill with repeal of the individual mandate, Ag and Finance Senator Chuck Grassley says.
House Republicans meantime, feel they have enough votes this week to pass their bill that does not include the repeal provision.