As we’re all no doubt aware, the tax reform debate is THE top issue being discussed currently in the Nation’s Capital. Yesterday, the US House advanced its tax reform legislation and sent it to the US Senate by a vote of 227 – 205. The bill as approved by the House represents a tax cut of almost $1.4 trillion, with many of the cuts going to corporate and small business. But, as we have all read this week, the US Senate also has its own version of tax reform in the works and it includes a repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate!  The good news is that aside from repeal of the individual mandate, there are many similarities between the two versions and with both branches in republican hands, one would think the likelihood of getting some kind of tax reform (and relief) through Congress and signed by the President is pretty good, but past actions of some “republican” Senators put that result in question! The House bill approved yesterday delivers on a number of promises – it reduces the number of tax brackets from 7 to 4, permanently establishes the corporate tax rate at 20%, sets the top rate for non-corporate “pass-through” business at 25%, and doubles the exemption for death/estate taxes with full repeal in six years, among other provisions. On the flip side, the House bill also repealed the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), and repealed the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), something very much beneficial to many of our subscribers. What the Senate does with their version remains to be seen, but the Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on it today and the Senate leadership hopes to take final action on the bill before the end of this month.