(Substack)—House Republicans unveiled a segment of President Donald Trump’s tax agenda on Friday evening, advancing efforts to finalize the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
The proposal features an enhanced child tax credit (CTC), a raised estate tax exemption threshold—often called the “death tax” by Republicans—and other provisions.
It also sets the stage for permanently extending Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). GOP leaders cautioned that letting TCJA lapse by year-end would trigger a tax hike exceeding 20% for millions of Americans.
The bill currently omits details on state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps, a divisive issue between blue-state Republicans, key to maintaining the House majority, and GOP members from red, lower-tax states.
Also absent is a proposed millionaires’ tax bracket. Trump had suggested a modest tax increase for the ultra-wealthy, with a source telling Fox News Digital that he was considering a pre-TCJA 2.6% tax hike for those earning $2.5 million or more annually.
These elements could still be incorporated into the final legislation.
The bill is expected to include new Trump tax commitments, such as eliminating taxes on tips, overtime wages, and Social Security benefits for retirees.
Additional provisions are likely to be introduced through amendments in the coming days. The full bill is slated for review by the House Ways & Means Committee, the chamber’s tax-writing body, on Tuesday afternoon.
The release marks significant progress for House GOP leaders, who had to delay their original goal of delivering a bill to Trump’s desk between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. However, SALT deduction caps and a potential millionaire’s tax increase remain contentious issues.
With a slim three-vote majority, House Republicans can tolerate minimal dissent to pass legislation without Democratic support.
They aim to achieve this, as nearly all Democrats currently oppose Trump’s sweeping Republican policy overhaul. GOP lawmakers plan to use the budget-reconciliation process, which reduces the Senate’s approval threshold from 60 votes to 51, aligning with the House’s simple majority requirement.
Reconciliation enables the majority party to bypass the minority and pass major legislation related to taxes, spending, or the national debt.
Trump has urged Republicans to leverage this process to address his priorities, including border security, immigration, taxes, defense, energy, and raising the debt ceiling.
Both chambers passed frameworks earlier this year to facilitate the bill’s development. Relevant committees must now craft policies within that framework, which will be combined into a final bill requiring approval from both the House and Senate before Trump can sign it into law.
The latest section from the House Ways & Means Committee raises the CTC maximum from $2,000 to $2,500.
It also increases the qualified business income deduction (Section 199A) from 20% to 22%, primarily benefiting small business owners taxed at individual income rates.
For the estate tax, applied to assets after death, the exemption would rise from approximately $13.9 million to $15 million.
Republicans have long decried the estate tax as an unfair burden on grieving families, especially small family businesses, while supporters argue it impacts only a small fraction of estates.
“Seven years ago, the Trump tax cuts sparked an economic boom and provided needed relief to working families. Pro-family, pro-worker tax provisions are the heart of President Trump’s economic agenda that puts working families ahead of Washington and will create jobs, grow wages and investment and help usher in a new golden age of prosperity,” House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement on Friday night.
“Ways and Means Republicans have spent two years preparing for this moment, and we will deliver for the American people.”
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