The House this afternoon passed its version of tax reform 227-205, leaving the future of the first major re-write of the tax code in 30 years in the hands of the Senate.
The vote came after President Donald Trump rallied members of Congress with a personal appearance on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, a national analysis of the House Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) has concluded New Jerseyans would see a it $137 million tax increase.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) said New Jersey would join California, New York and Maryland as the four states whose residents would pay more in aggregate federal personal income taxes under the House bill, mostly from the eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes.
While NJBIA supports the concept of tax reform, it has urged the New Jersey Congressional delegation to vote against this bill because of its negative impact on state taxpayers.
“The House bill, in its current form, falls well short of providing much-needed benefits for our small businesses,” NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka said earlier this week. “The elimination of state and local tax deductions will actually make our high-tax state even less affordable. We feel Congress can and should do better.”
In the Senate, the Finance Committee will continue to debate amendments to its version of the tax reform bill.