On Jan 31st, The United States House successfully passed a bipartisan tax bill, sweeping across all the major facets of the economy. It included an expansion to the Child Tax Credit. Furthermore, some business-specific tax cuts have also been reinstated.
Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Jason Smith were the two foremost negotiators of the tax bill. They are chairs of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee respectively. The House saw the tax bill get cleared with a heavy bipartisan majority vote of 357 for and 70 against.
The Tax Bill Looks To Be Promising
The House’s widespread support was vital in getting the legislation passed since it was fast-tracked by Republicans using a “suspension” tactic. This means that any legislation that gets passed while under suspension will need 66% of the House’s support. Just a majority will not be sufficient. As such, there had to be a lot of backing of a bipartisan nature for the tax bill to get through the House which is controlled by the Republicans.
However, it is still very far from being enacted, as it still needs to get through the Senate. In the Senate, the $79Bn tax bill is expected to face an even steeper hurdle. Republicans have already placed down additional hurdles for the bill to overcome. Republican Senator Mike Crapo explained that there are issues that require fixing. He is the Senate Finance Committee’s leading Republican representative. This committee is tasked with overseeing tax legislation.
Here is one clarification as to the impact of the bill. Even if passed by the Senate, the final expansion to the CTC would not raise it to the boosted amount that was handed out during the pandemic.