On May 23, by a narrow 215 to 214 vote after an all-night debate, the House of Representatives passed the $6+ trillion reconciliation bill, H.R.1. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the measure as passed by the House would, over 10 years, add $2.42 trillion to the federal deficit. H.R.1 contains a $3.8 trillion tax package. CBO also projected that Trump tariffs would reduce the deficit by $2.5 trillion over 10 years.
3 min read
House Approves Reconciliation Bill
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:21 AM
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Congress Tax Reform
2 min read
Senate Contemplates Changes to House-Passed Reconciliation Bill
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:19 AM
The Senate is now working on its version of reconciliation (tax) legislation, expecting to make multiple changes to H.R.1, the bill the House passed just before Memorial Day. Here are some of the issues that Republican Senators are considering.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Congress Tax Reform
3 min read
H.R.1 Expands and Makes Permanent Section 199A
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:16 AM
The House-passed reconciliation bill, H.R.1 contains a provision increasing the Section 199A deduction for qualifying non-corporate business income from 20 percent to 23 percent There is no expiration date on the provision, which also contains modifications to eligibility for use of the deduction.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Tax Reform
1 min read
Tax Package Increases Estate Tax Exemption
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:13 AM
H.R.1, the budget reconciliation bill approved by the House on May 23, includes a provision that permanently increases the estate tax exemption to $15 million ($30 million for married couples). The $15 million exemption amount is indexed for inflation with a base year of 2025.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Estate Planning Tax Reform
1 min read
Reconciliation Bill Restricts Itemized Deduction Values for Wealthy
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:11 AM
A “tax-the-rich” provision in the House-passed reconciliation bill would reduce the value of itemized deductions for 37 percent taxpayers. The provision would replace current law’s Pease limitation on the value of itemized deductions.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Tax Reform
1 min read
Health Savings Accounts Expanded in House-Passed Tax Package
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:09 AM
The House-passed tax package includes a number of enhancements to the rules governing health savings accounts (HSAs). These provisions are not subject to an expiration date—they would take effect in 2026.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Health Savings Accounts
1 min read
House Bill Offers New Tax Break for Some Seniors, Enhanced Standard Deduction
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:08 AM
The House-passed tax bill provides a temporary additional deduction of $4,000 for those over age 65 who have less than $75,000 ($150,000 for married couples) in taxable income. It also temporarily expands the standard deduction by $2,000 (married)/$1,000 (single taxpayers).
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Tax Reform
1 min read
H.R.1 Would Create New Tax-Favored Savings Accounts for Children
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:06 AM
Included in H.R.1 are provisions that would create new tax-favored savings accounts, Trump Accounts, for children. It also includes creation of a pilot program under which there would be a one-time government contribution to Trump Accounts.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations
1 min read
House-Passed Reconciliation Bill Includes Bonus Depreciation for Five Years
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:04 AM
The House-passed budget reconciliation bill includes a temporary bonus depreciation provision that allows a 100 percent deduction (rather than several years of partial deductions to reflect amortization of the cost of the property) for qualified property acquired and placed in service by a business.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Tax Reform
1 min read
Enhanced Deduction for Business Loan Interest Included in H.R.1
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:02 AM
H.R.1 modifies the rules for calculating the amount of interest paid on business loans. The result is for many businesses an increase in the amount of business loan interest that is deductible from taxable income.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Tax Reform
1 min read
House Reconciliation Bill Makes Some Overtime Pay Income Tax-Free
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 11:00 AM
The House-passed reconciliation budget bill, H.R.1, contains a provision that would make certain overtime (OT) pay free from income tax, but not from payroll (Social Security/Medicare) taxes. This tax relief provision is limited both by income and by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA’s) definition of qualified overtime hours.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Taxes
1 min read
Key Senator Introduces Bill to Help ESOPs Contribute Shares to Plans
By NAIFA on 6/13/25 10:52 AM
On May 13, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which has jurisdiction over ERISA issues, introduced legislation, S.1727, that would allow ESOPs to contribute company shares to plan participants without having to include the value of the shares in the ESOP’s or the employee’s contribution limits.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Retirement Plans
3 min read
House Committees Begin Crafting Massive Reconciliation Bill
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 11:17 AM
During the week of April 29, House committees of jurisdiction began crafting their pieces of the $6 trillion+ reconciliation budget bill that Congress wants to enact by the end of this summer. The process is and will continue to be fraught as lawmakers make tough decisions, on which there is and will be much opposition, on how to cut spending and taxes for the upcoming 10 years.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Taxes Congress
7 min read
Ways and Means Approves Huge Tax Reconciliation Title
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 11:14 AM
The House Ways and Means Committee approved its reconciliation title on May 14 on a party line vote after a 17-hour mark-up. The tax title of the reconciliation bill contains provisions that would permanently extend (i.e., eliminate an expiration date) a raft of tax rules that are set to expire at the end of this year. A few of these extension provisions also modify the expiring rules, including the Section 199A deduction. In addition, the title includes new tax cuts first proposed by President Trump as well as other tax cuts. Offsets are included to ensure that the cost of the title complies with the Committee’s reconciliation instructions. Significantly and in a major victory for NAIFA, the Committee did not attempt to raise revenue from the products and services NAIFA provides to assist American families in achieving financial security.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Taxes
2 min read
Debt Limit Sets “Real Deadline” for Reconciliation
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 11:06 AM
The emerging reconciliation bill includes a provision to raise the statutory debt limit—the amount beyond which Treasury may not borrow--to $4 trillion. The Senate version of the budget calls for a $5 trillion increase to the $37.2 trillion federal debt limit. The House budget authorizes a $4 trillion debt limit increase.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Debt Congress
1 min read
Bicameral “Universal Savings Account” Bill Introduced
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 10:56 AM
Legislation to create a new, tax-favored flexible savings account was introduced in both the House and Senate. The “Universal Savings Account (USA) Act” would qualify USA accounts for Roth treatment (after-tax contributions, tax-free earnings and withdrawals).
Topics: Legislation & Regulations
2 min read
Worker Classification Bills Introduced in the House
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 10:49 AM
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) has introduced two worker classification bills. One would clarify what constitutes an independent contractor as compared to an employee. The other would create a safe harbor that would allow an employer to provide benefits to independent contractors without risking a worker’s classification as an employee.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations
2 min read
Bipartisan Federal Paid Family Leave Bill Introduced
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 10:46 AM
On April 30, a bipartisan bill to establish a federal paid family leave program was introduced by Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). The bill creates a three-year pilot grant program within the Department of Labor (DOL) aimed at encouraging states to create paid family leave programs using public-private partnerships.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Paid Family Medical Leave
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Court Grants Administration Request for Delay in Adjudicating Fiduciary Rule Challenge
By NAIFA on 5/15/25 10:37 AM
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Trump Administration’s request for a 60-day delay in considering the fiduciary rule cases that are currently on appeal before that court. That puts the court’s consideration of the case on track to be considered in mid-June at the soonest.
The request for delay impacts the ACLI/NAIFA case challenging the Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rule. This is the second request for a 60-day delay that the court has granted.
Topics: Legislation & Regulations Standard of Care & Consumer Protection DOL
2 min read
BOI Rule Narrowed to Apply Only to Foreign Companies
By NAIFA on 4/15/25 9:11 AM
On March 26, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an interim final rule (RIN 1506-AB49) narrowing the applicability of the beneficial ownership information (BOI) rule to foreign reporting companies.