Nevertheless, Republicans are in their home districts this month, charged with ginning up popular support for tax reform. Various activist groups are waging campaigns, too, in an effort to sway public opinion.
Part of the uncertainty arises from the differences between President Donald Trump’s most recent wish list and last year’s Republican blueprint for tax reform. There also are differences among Republicans themselves, and the potential for Democratic pushback is high if only wealthy Americans benefit from any proposed changes.
Additionally, the balance between corporate tax cuts and individual relief could prove trickier because the idea of a levy on imports — which would offset reduced revenue from corporate tax relief — has now been nixed, according to the GOP statement released last month.
Nevertheless, Republicans are “fully committed to ensuring that ordinary Americans keep more of their hard-earned money,” according to the statement. It also says reform would “eliminate most of the tax breaks that mainly benefit high-income” taxpayers.
Among the changes on the table, as expressed in both the 35-page GOP tax reform blueprint released in 2016 and Trump’s one-page plan unveiled in April:
- Reducing marginal rates on regular income and reducing the number of tax brackets from seven to three
- Expanding support for child care and expenses
- Killing the estate tax
- Repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax
- Increasing standard deductions
- Lowering taxes on investment income
- Eliminating all deductions except those related to mortgage interest and charitable contributions
If successful, it would be the first major rewrite of the U.S. tax code since 1986. Whether it can get done by the end of the year, however, is questionable.
The two tax-writing committees — the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee — are charged with developing and drafting legislation in the fall.
Yet even the GOP tax-reform blueprint points out that the 1986 reform under President Ronald Reagan took “three years of difficult work in Congress.”
“They’ll be going through all the details and trying to make the different pieces work,” Pomerleau said. “It’s hard to tell exactly how it will shake out.”