Comparing the Latest House and Senate Tax Bills by Provision
In broad fiscal terms, the House and Senate tax bills are very similar. Both plans would cost more than $1.4 trillion over ten years on paper while hiding potentially hundreds of billions in gimmicks. However, the two plans differ in where the costs come from. On net, the House plan includes $1.1 trillion of business tax cuts, $200 billion of individual tax cuts, and $151 billion from estate tax repeal. The Senate version, meanwhile, has $900 billion of individual tax cuts, $700 billion of business tax cuts, $83 billion from estate tax cuts, and $318 billion of savings from repealing the individual mandate. The plans also differ on details, in particular the Senate's sunsetting of almost all individual tax provisions after 2025.
To see how the tax plans stack up, we've updated our comparison of how much each of the provisions in each plan costs or saves. Differences are especially noticeable in the gross individual tax increases and the Senate's decision to repeal the individual mandate. But the bottom lines, both with and without gimmicks, are very similar.
| Policy | Senate | House |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Tax Cuts | ||
| Reduce and/or consolidate individual income tax rates | $1.2 trillion | $1.1 trillion |
| Roughly double the standard deduction | $737 billion | $921 billion |
| Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) | $769 billion | $696 billion |
| Increase the child tax credit and/or create dependent tax credit | $584 billion | $641 billion |
| Other tax cuts | $2 billion | $0 billion |
| Subtotal, Individual Tax Cuts | $3.3 trillion | $3.3 trillion |
| Individual Tax Increases | ||
| Repeal personal exemptions | -$1.2 trillion | -$1.6 trillion |
| Reform itemized deductions | -$1 trillion | -$1.3 trillion |
| Use chained CPI to index tax provisions | -$134 billion | -$128 billion |
| Reform higher education tax benefits | N/A | -$65 billion |
| Eliminate certain exclusions | -$6 billion | -$36 billion |
| Require Social Security number to obtain child tax credit | -$24 billion | -$42 billion |
| Other provisions | -$8 billion | -$15 billion |
| Subtotal, Individual Tax Increases | -$2.4 trillion | -$3.1 trillion |
| Business Tax Cuts | ||
| Reduce corporate tax rate to 20% and repeal corporate AMT | $1.4 trillion | $1.5 trillion |
| Reduce taxes for pass-through businesses | $362 billion | $597 billion |
| Move to territorial system for foreign taxation | $216 billion | $207 billion |
| Reform taxation of intangible property | $99 billion | N/A |
| Move to full expensing of investments for five years | $74 billion | $25 billion |
| Increase small business write-offs | $52 billion | $41 billion |
| Other provisions | $34 billion | $29 billion |
| Subtotal, Business Tax Cuts | $2.2 trillion | $2.4 trillion |
| Business Tax Increases | ||
| Reduce limit on interest expense deductions | -$308 billion | -$172 billion |
| Enact base erosion or other revenue-raising provisions for foreign taxation | -$303 billion | -$209 billion |
| Enact one-time tax on overseas earnings | -$185 billion | -$293 billion |
| Limit carryover of net operating losses | -$158 billion | -$156 billion |
| Limit pass-through losses to $250K/$500K | -$137 billion | N/A |
| Eliminate domestic production activities deduction | -$81 billion | -$95 billion |
| Eliminate R&E expensing with delay | -$62 billion | -$109 billion |
| Limit deductions for meals, entertainment, and transportation | -$40 billion | -$34 billion |
| Reform tax treatment of banks and financial instruments | -$34 billion | -$71 billion |
| Limit deferral of gain on like-kind exchanges to real property | -$31 billion | -$31 billion |
| Modify orphan drug tax credit | -$30 billion | -$54 billion |
| Reform tax treatment of insurance companies | -$27 billion | -$40 billion |
| Reform tax treatment of executive compensation | -$11 billion | -$13 billion |
| Other changes | -$47 billion | -$50 billion |
| Subtotal, Business Tax Increases | -$1.5 trillion | -$1.3 trillion |
| Reduce and/or Repeal Estate Tax | $83 billion | $151 billion |
| Eliminate Individual Mandate | -$318 billion | N/A |
| Total | $1.4 trillion | $1.4 trillion |
| Extend business expensing | $115 billion | $175 billion |
| Delay R&E amortization | $60 billion | $110 billion |
| Extend individual tax provisions beyond expiration | $240 billion | $225 billion |
| Other gimmicks | $105 billion | N/A |
| Cost Without Gimmicks | $1.9 trillion | $1.9 trillion |
Sources: Joint Committee on Taxation and CRFB calculations.
