Brady Pushes Tax Law Fixes, Extenders Package in House
On Nov. 26, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) released the text of an omnibus tax bill that would extend nearly 30 temporary tax provisions, make some technical corrections to the 2017 tax reform law, reform the IRS and make numerous retirement savings changes. The newly revealed package, however, would only address a handful of the technical corrections in the 2017 tax law, including an error—dubbed the “retail glitch”—that keeps establishments from immediately writing off the costs of interior renovations and improvements.
A copy of the House tax bill is available here; a summary of the IRS reforms in the bill is available here; and a section by section summary of the bill’s tax extenders, retirement provisions, technical corrections and related portions is available here.
On the extenders front, the package would make permanent a tax break for railroad track improvements and extend and phase out the biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels credit. The legislation would renew several other expired extenders for the 2018 tax year and just two for 2019.
The measure as released earlier this week would reduce revenue by $53.3 billion and increase mandatory spending by $1.4 billion in fiscal 2019 through 2028, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation. The package would increase federal deficit by $54.7 billion over that period.
Chairman Brady’s bill was apparently assembled without Democratic input. House Republicans believed they could quickly pass the bill on a partisan vote, but announced this morning that the vote would be delayed until next week at the earliest. Some press reports indicate that a number of Republican lawmakers were unwilling to vote to further increase the deficit and increase spending, believing it politically unwise, especially since any bill passed in the House would be modified in the Senate, where Democratic support is needed to reach the 60 votes needed for passage.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch told reporters on Nov. 27 that his committee is planning to release its own year-end tax legislation. Hatch is working with Finance Committee ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden to put together a bill that could muster enough votes to receive approval by the full Senate.
