Republican US politicians have taken an important step toward the biggest tax code overhaul since the 1980s as the House of Representatives approved a broad package of tax cuts sought by President Donald Trump.
The tax debate now moves to the US Senate, where that chamber's separate plan has already encountered resistance from some Republicans. No decisive Senate action is expected until after next week's Thanksgiving holiday.
Trump, who is looking for his first major legislative win since he took office in January, went to the US Capitol just before the vote to urge House Republicans to pass the tax bill, which Democrats call a give-away to the wealthy and businesses.
"A simple, fair and competitive tax code will be rocket fuel for our economy, and it's within our reach. Now is the time to deliver," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after the largely party-line House vote of 227-205.
Congress has not thoroughly overhauled the sprawling US tax code since Republican Ronald Reagan was president. The House measure is not as comprehensive as Reagan's 1986 sweeping package, but it is more ambitious than anything since then.
But the path forward for the tax plan in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority, is fraught with obstacles about concerns over the federal deficit, healthcare and the distribution of tax benefits. Republicans can lose no more than two Senate votes if Democrats remain united in opposition.
Senate Republican tax writers made the risky decision to tie their plan to a repeal of the requirement for people to get healthcare insurance under former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. That exposed the tax initiative to the same political forces that wrecked Republicans' anti-Obamacare push earlier this year.
The House bill, which is estimated to increase the federal deficit by nearly $US1.5 trillion ($A2.1 trillion) over 10 years, would consolidate individual and family tax brackets to four from seven and reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.
Share
