Not much has changed since the last post to our 税 blog. The Build Back Better bill is still parked in the 森ate after passing the House in November. Some provisions of the nearly $2 trillion bill that President Biden and other congressional leaders had hoped would be law by now are still up for debate.
The president is uncertain that the bill will pass by his earlier goal of December 25, noting that he’ll take passage of the legislation “… as early as we can get it. 不管花多长时间，我们都要把它完成.其他人似乎也赞同这种观点, with the New York Post citing a senior Democratic source who insisted that, “目标还是在圣诞节之前, 但是在新年之前也可以.”
Democratic party senators are still grappling to reach a consensus on various issues and provisions included in the legislation. The spending aspect of the bill and the impact on the overall fiscal health of the United States is one of the concerns of 森. 乔·曼钦，民主党人.Va, who’s uneasy with the prospect of the bill’s spending provisions adding fuel to the highest inflation rate the U.S. 经历了这么多年. He also believes the indicated costs of new programs seem to appear lower than they actually would be if enacted.
除了, the bill must meet rules established by the 森ate governing what can be included in a bill that’s sought to be passed using the “reconciliation” process. 所谓的伯德规则, 例如, lays out restrictions for what can be passed under budget rules. Among those is that a proposal must have an impact on federal spending and revenues, and that its impact isn’t “merely incidental” to its nonbudgetary goals. 截至12月8日, 森ate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has still not ruled on some of the potential provisions included in the bill, including immigration-related provisions and plans to control pharmaceutical prices.
Much of the focus on the revenue raising (federal 税 impact) side of the bill concerns the deductibility of state and local 税es (SALT). The House-passed bill proposes to temporarily increase the $10,目前每人上限为80美元,000, 但森s. 伯尼·桑德斯(佛蒙特州.鲍勃·梅内德斯(Bob Menendez).J.) have been working on an alternative plan that would allow many people an unlimited deduction, while higher earners would continue to be covered by the current SALT cap. The issue is a priority of lawmakers from high-税 states like New York, 新泽西, 和加州, 谁在争论现在的10美元,000美元的扣除限额对他们的选民是不公平的. 森. 桑德斯, 然而, is not ready to support a proposal that would benefit the top 1% of households (roughly those with income exceeding $500,000).
If the 森ate ultimately passes a version of the Build Back Better legislation that’s different from the House version, 该法案将需要回到众议院, 在哪里需要再次投票. What’s unclear is the impact on some of the legislation’s retroactive effective dates if the bill doesn’t pass both chambers until sometime after January 1, 2022. We’ll continue to monitor the situation closely as the bill progresses.
