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GOP releases final draft of tax reform bill

15-12-2017 < RT 59 228 words
 





Congressional Republicans have released the finalized text of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as determined in conference between the House and the Senate. The bill is now headed to both chambers for a final vote.



The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee published the conference version of the bill, promising to “make the tax code simpler and fairer,” on Friday afternoon. Some of the measures will take effect as early as February 2018, President Donald Trump said earlier this week.


The bill lowers the top tax rate for individuals from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, which is lower than the original bills passed earlier by the House and Senate. The corporate tax rate is being slashed to 21 percent, down from 35 percent currently but up from 20 percent in the original version.


Standard deductions will increase from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and from $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples.


Politicians have lamented for years over the US having the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world, while supporters of the higher tax rate point out that the US does not have a value-added tax that most industrialized countries use.




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