Republicans confident tax bill will pass

Washington : Top U.S. Republicans said they expected Congress to pass a tax code overhaul this week, with a Senate vote as early as Tuesday and President Donald Trump aiming to sign the bill by week’s end.

John Cornyn, the No. 2 U.S. Senate Republican, said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday that he was “confident” the Senate would pass the legislation, “probably on Tuesday.”

Republican Representative Kevin Brady said he believed his party had the votes to pass the bill.

“I think we are headed - the American people are headed - for a big win on Tuesday,” Brady, the House of Representatives’ top tax writer, said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”

“We’ve worked hard to make sure that those strange Senate rules don’t hang this up in any way,” Brady added. “I am confident that’s the case.”

If passed, the bill would be the biggest U.S. tax rewrite since 1986 and would provide Republican lawmakers and Trump with their first major legislative victory since they took control of the White House in January, in addition to Congress.

Democrats have been unified against the measure, calling it a giveaway to corporations and the rich that would drive up the federal deficit.

The tax bill is expected to add at least $1 trillion to the $20 trillion U.S. national debt over 10 years, even after accounting for the economic growth it might spur, according to independent government analyses.

The bill would cut the corporate income tax rate to 21 per cent from 35pc and create a 20pc income tax deduction for owners of “pass-through” businesses, such as partnerships and sole proprietorships.

It would offer a mixed bag for individuals, including middle-class workers, by roughly doubling a standard deduction that does not require itemization, but eliminating or scaling back other popular itemized deductions and exemptions.

The bill would maintain seven individual and family income tax brackets but cut rates. Highest-earning Americans would pay 37pc, down from 39.6pc.

Most individual provisions, including the lower tax rates, are temporary and would expire, while the corporate rate cut and other business provisions would be permanent.