WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a sweeping Republican tax bill cutting taxes for corporations and many people. It puts GOP leaders closer to delivering to President Donald Trump a crucial legislative achievement after nearly a year of failures.
The House voted 227-205 along party lines to approve the bill, which would bring the biggest revamp of the U.S. tax system in three decades.
Most of the House bill's reductions would go to business. Both the Senate and House would slash the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent and reduce levies on millions of partnerships and certain corporations, including many small businesses.
Personal income tax rates for many would be reduced through some deductions, and credits would be reduced or eliminated. But projected federal deficits would grow by $1.5 trillion over the coming decade.
Before the vote, Democrats used new projections by Congress' nonpartisan tax analysts to call the Senate Republican tax bill a boon to the wealthy that boosts middle-income families' taxes.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that starting in 2021, many families earning less than $30,000 would have tax increases under the bill. By 2027, families earning up to $75,000 would face higher levies, while those earning more would get tax cuts.
Republicans said the new calculations reflect two provisions in the bill.
The Senate measure ends personal income tax cuts beginning in 2026 because Republicans needed to reduce the bill's costs to obey the chamber's budget rules.
It also abolishes the requirement under former President Barack Obama's health care law that people buy insurance. That means fewer people getting federally subsidized coverage — which analysts consider a tax boost.
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