It’s been called the most sweeping tax reform bill in decades, and after a vote on party lines early Saturday morning, it’s one step closer to final passage.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed the United States Senate 51-49 on Saturday, with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker the only Republican to vote against the measure. All 48 Democrats in the Senate voted against the bill, which will now have to be synced up with a House bill before being sent to the president’s desk.
The bill, which has been touted as an incentive for companies to create jobs as it slashes the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, will also have a significant impact on families.
Deductions for state and local taxes, including property taxes, would be eliminated as part of the measure. The Child Tax Credit would increase, as would the standard deduction for single and married couples.
The bill also would eliminate the personal exemption of $4050, according to an analysis of the bill.
The individual tax cuts in the bill are set to expire after 2025, while the reduction in the corporate tax would be a permanent one.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have said that the corporate tax cuts would create jobs and raise wages for middle class Americans, but Democrats have disagreed, calling it a “tax scam” in tweets and public statements.
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“It was a bad tax bill for the country. It is terrible for working families, and it’s especially bad for the state of Illinois,” Senator Dick Durbin said Saturday.
An independent analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, the wealthiest Americans would receive 62 percent of the benefits of the bill by 2027, while the middle class would likely see a tax increase. The Congressional Budget Office also projects that the bill will add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.
