Tax insight

Ways and Means Chairman Smith proposes revised FY 2025 tax bill for committee action

Insight
10 minute read
May 13, 2025

What happened?

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) on May 12 released 389-pages of revised tax proposals for consideration by the Ways and Means Committee at a “markup” scheduled to begin today, May 13, at 2:30 PM ET.

The new “chairman’s amendment in the nature of a substitute” (the Chairman’s amendment) replaces the 28-pages of tax proposals released on May 9, which focused primarily on extending permanently, with some modifications, certain individual, pass-through business, and international tax provisions enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that currently are set to expire at the end of this year.

The Chairman’s amendment features a large number of new business and individual tax proposals, including “bonus” depreciation and other business investment incentives; “no tax on tips” and certain other tax proposals offered by President Donald J. Trump; a new retaliatory measure to address “unfair foreign taxes;” a new $30,000 cap for individual itemized deductions for state and local taxes; and various revenue-raising measures that include changes to energy tax credits. The Chairman’s amendment also includes a provision to increase the federal statutory debt limit by $4 trillion.

Why is it relevant? 

The goal of the Ways and Means Committee “markup” session is to report proposed tax law changes that can be considered by the full US House of Representatives during the week of May 19 as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 reconciliation “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB). Assuming House passage, the Senate is expected to act on the legislation in June, with the stated goal of sending a final bill to be signed by President Trump before Congress begins a July 4 recess.

Action to consider 

Business leaders and individuals will need to quickly evaluate the potential effect of proposed tax law changes to be considered as part of the FY 2025 reconciliation bill on the US economy, business, and individuals. The May 13 committee action is just the first step in the process and there will be opportunities to modify the proposal before it is sent to the President for signature.

For more details, read the full Tax Insight linked below.