House Passes Historic Bill to Cut Taxes for Households and Businesses

The House passed the most sweeping tax overhaul in decades on Tuesday, taking a significant step to cutting taxes for most American households and businesses.

With 227 Republican votes, the House approved the tax cut bill on Tuesday afternoon. No Democrats supported the measure, and 12 Republicans voted against it.

The focus now shifts to the Senate, where Republicans appear to have enough votes to pass the legislation. On Monday, Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins said she would vote for the bill, bringing the likely votes in favor to at least fifty. Sen. John McCain is not expected to vote on the bill due to ongoing health issues.

Approval for the tax cuts comes just four days after a panel of lawmakers from the House and Senate agreed to a new version of the bill reconciling the differences between bills passed earlier by the two chambers. The bill lowers taxes for every income bracket and reduces the tax rate for corporate profits to 21 percent.

The legislation is expected to accelerate economic growth, adding as much as 1.3 percent to the American economy. The Trump administration says it expects that greater growth will drive wages higher for many American workers.

Tax bills are expected to fall for about 70 percent of U.S. households. About half of the tax cuts will go to the middle class, according to data from the Joint Committee on Taxation.