TAX VICTORY
would force the lower chamber to vote on the updated package once again.
The deepest rewrite of the US tax code in three decades provides dramatic tax breaks to corporations, and families at all incomes levels will see their income tax drop starting next year, with the largest benefits going to the wealthy.
The Republican legislation passed the Senate along strict party lines, 51 votes to 48, with all Democrats united in opposition.
“Today we are giving the people of this country their money back,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, who forcefully banged the gavel down as he proclaimed victory.
Should the bill become law, it would be the Republicans’ most important legislative victory in the 11 months since Trump’s inauguration.
The Republican plan is projected to add nearly US$1.5 trillion to the national debt over the coming decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
That figure drops to about US$1 trillion when economic growth is accounted for.
Ryan stated that a median-income family of four earning US$73,000 annually would save US$2,059 in taxes next year.
The Democratic opposition has denounced the measure as mostly benefiting companies and the wealthiest Americans – including Trump himself – and warns it risks blowing a hole in the national debt, which has surged past US$20 trillion. AFP