More "Winners and Losers" Under the GOP So-Called Tax Reform Plan

He Cometh, He Taketh, and He Enjoyeth the Most

Tax Breaks Are Good and Needed from Time-to-Time

(Who really benefits the most is the critical question)

GOP Tax “Reform Plan” – some Winners and Losers – short analysis here from TPM in part.

SOME OF THE WINNERS:

 • Wealthy individuals and their heirs win big in the “overhaul” of the inheritance tax on multimillion-dollar estates. Democrats wave the legislation’s targeting of the tax as a red flag in the face of Republicans, as proof that they’re out to benefit wealthy donors.

• The House bill initially doubles the limits — to $11 million for individuals and $22 million for couples — on how much money in the estate can be exempted from the inheritance tax, then repeals it entirely after 2023.

Then there’s the alternative minimum tax (ATM): A levy aimed at ensuring that higher-earning people pay at least some tax. It disappears in both bills.

This is a “cha-ching for Trump’s far-flung property empire and the holdings of his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.”  

The Senate bill lets pass-through owners deduct some of the earnings and then pay at their personal income rate on the remainder.

• Corporations win all around, with a tax rate slashed from 35 percent to 20 percent in both bills, but would have to wait a year under the Senate version.

Trump and the administration view it as an untouchable centerpiece of the legislation.

• U.S. oil companies with foreign operations would pay reduced taxes under the Senate bill on their income from sales of oil and natural gas abroad.

• Beer, wine, and liquor producers would reap tax reductions under the Senate measure.

• Companies that provide maintenance for aircraft services get an updated win. The Senate bill clarifies that under current law, the management companies would be exempt from paying taxes on payments they receive from owners of private jets as well as from commercial airlines. That was requested by OH Sens Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) – Ohio is home to “NetJets,” a big aircraft management company: Portman (overall Yes) / Brown (overall No).

SOME OF THE LOSERS:

• An estimated 13 million Americans could lose health insurance coverage under the Senate bill, which would repeal the “Obamacare” requirement that everyone in the U.S. have health insurance based on the latest CBO analysis.

Eliminating the fines for not having healthcare is expected to mean fewer people would obtain federally subsidized health policies (thus saving money for the GOP to give to “winners” as their breaks).

• People living in high-tax states would be hit by repeal of federal deductions for state and local taxes under the Senate bill (SALT provision). The House has only a partial repeal (and it passed). That result of a compromise allows the deduction for up to $10,000 in property taxes.

• Starting in 2021, many families making less than $30,000 a year would face tax increases under the Senate bill (according to Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation).

• By 2027, families earning less than $75,000 would see their tax bills rise while those making more would enjoy some reductions (the same analysts say), with the individual income-tax reductions in the Senate bill ending in 2026.

Some of my other coverage below: FYI –

1. http://danzview.blogspot.com/2017/11/gop-tax-reform-plan-for-america-mostly.html

2.  https://politicalrapids.blogspot.com/2017/10/boo-happy-halloween-gop-tax-reform-on.html

3.  http://weaselwart.blogspot.com/2017/11/gop-tax-code-reform-plan-expert.html

B/L if there is in fact a bottom line: It ain’t over yet – the public is starting to wake up and react. Will it matter – usually when the public competes with big money, well we know who usually wins.

Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.