On Friday, December 15, the U.S. House of Representative and Senate conferees reached agreement on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Final Bill”), and released legislative text, an explanation, and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated budget effects (commonly referred to as the “score”). Next week the House and Senate are each expected to pass the bill, and it is expected to be sent to the President for signature the following week. As the conferees actually signed the conference text, changes (even of a limited and/or technical nature) are extremely unlikely at this point.
The Final Bill largely follows the Senate bill, but with certain important differences. We outline some of the most significant differences between the Final Bill, the earlier House bill, and the Senate bill. We then discuss in detail some of the most significant provisions of the Final Bill. The provisions discussed are generally proposed to apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, subject to certain exceptions (only some of which are noted below). While we discuss some of these provisions in detail, we do not address all restrictions, exclusions, and various other nuances applicable to any given provision.