Relief For Families and Businesses: US House Passes $78 Billion Tax Package

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a $78 billion tax bill with a focus on enhancing the child tax credit and reinstating business deductions that were eliminated during the Trump administration.

What Happened: The bill, titled the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, was approved by a bipartisan 357-70 vote, reported The Hill on Wednesday. The legislation, proposed by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), is a rare example of bipartisan cooperation in the current Congress, which intense partisan conflicts have characterized.

The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has expressed support for the bill and is working with Wyden to chart a path forward.

Despite the broad bipartisan support, the bill faced opposition from conservative Republicans, progressive Democrats, and some moderate New York Republicans. The latter group was particularly unhappy about the bill’s exclusion of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction increase.

Why It Matters: The bill passed by the House Ways and Means Committee of Congress now awaits a green signal from the Senate. It is expected to significantly impact American families as this would increase the child tax credit from $1,600 to $2,000 per child until 2025, with an inflation adjustment in 2024 and 2025.

Additionally, the bill proposes a 12.5% increase in the low-income housing tax credit ceiling until 2025 and the reinstatement of three business deductions that were removed in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The bill also includes a provision to prevent double taxation for Taiwanese companies with employees in the U.S. and Taiwan. It offers tax relief to victims of wildfires and the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

These changes come on the heels of a proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which could potentially provide more financial support to American families.

Photo Via Shutterstock

Engineered by Benzinga Neuro, Edited by Pooja Rajkumari

The GPT-4-based Benzinga Neuro content generation system exploits the extensive Benzinga Ecosystem, including native data, APIs, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. Learn more.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.