GOP/TAXES: “House and Senate Republican negotiators agreed Wednesday [12-13-17] to the final version of the party’s tax bill, setting a lower rate for the top-earning individuals and a slightly higher corporate rate than has been discussed.
The full details of what is likely to be a $1.4 trillion tax cut over a decade will be released later this week. Full House and Senate votes are expected next week, which would allow the GOP to complete a big legislative priority before Christmas…
The agreement would set the top individual tax rate at 37%, two people familiar with the deal said. That is lower than today’s 39.6% top rate and lower than the top rate in each of the bills that passed the House and Senate.
Republicans said they were considering that change to address concerns from high-earning residents in high-tax states who would take a hit because they would lose the ability to fully deduct state and local taxes in a new overhaul law. A modified version of a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions would be included in the bill, a GOP aide said…
It was unclear how Republicans made these changes and stayed within the $1.5 trillion limit they set for themselves.
Republicans hashed out the agreement among themselves in advance of a formal meeting of the bipartisan House-Senate conference committee on Wednesday, and they announced the deal just before heading to a lunch at the White House with Mr. Trump.”
-Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes, “House, Senate Republicans Reach Deal on Final Tax Bill,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 13, 2017 04:29pm