Republican Tax Bill in Final Sprint Across Finish Line<br />In an effort to assuage concerns that wealthy individuals would face a potential tax increase, the top individual income tax rate<br />will drop to 37 percent, down from the current rate of 39.6 percent in the Senate bill and the 38.5 percent in the House bill.<br />The changes included a slightly higher corporate tax rate of 21 percent, rather than the 20 percent in the legislation<br />that passed both chambers and a lower top individual tax rate of 37 percent for the wealthiest Americans, who currently pay 39.6 percent.<br />The agreement would cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, which is lower than the current 35 percent rate but higher than the 20 percent<br />that Mr. Trump had, until recently, said was nonnegotiable.<br />Lawmakers also yielded to concerns by business groups about the Senate’s last-minute inclusion of the corporate alternative minimum tax, which was added as a way to pay for the bill<br />but faced stiff blowback from companies who said it would restrict their ability to use the research and development tax credit.<br />WASHINGTON — The day after suffering a political blow in the Alabama special Senate election, congressional Republicans sped forward with the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades, announcing an agreement on a final bill<br />that would cut taxes for businesses and individuals and mark the party’s first major legislative achievement since assuming political control this year.<br />The House and Senate versions of the tax bill started from the same core principles — cutting taxes on business sharply, while reducing rates<br />and eliminating some breaks for individuals — but diverged on several key details.<br />The bill also allows individuals to somewhat choose how to use their state<br />and local tax deduction, giving them the ability to write-off up to $10,000 in property taxes, income or sales taxes paid or a combination of property and sales or property and income taxes.
