US Lawmakers Reach $78B Tax Deal for Businesses, Families

Congressional negotiators have agreed on a nearly $80 billion deal providing tax benefits geared toward businesses and low-income families Tuesday.

The agreement between House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., comes after months of negotiations.

“American families will benefit from this bipartisan agreement that provides greater tax relief, strengthens Main Street businesses, boosts our competitiveness with China, and creates jobs," Smith said in a statement. "We even provide disaster relief and cut red tape for small businesses, while ending a COVID-era program that’s costing taxpayers billions in fraud."

The $78 billion package would temporarily expand the Child Tax Credit and boost the low-income housing tax credit while also bringing back a range of deductions for companies, Punchbowl and Politico reported.

The deal also includes disaster tax relief and is likely to extend tax benefits for Taiwanese semiconductor companies operating in the United States.

The deal must still pass both the Democrat-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before U.S. President Joe Biden could sign it into law at a time when lawmakers are scrambling to keep the government funded.

The agreement comes as Congress aims to avert a partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies operating into March by passing a short-term spending bill to temporarily fund the U.S. government, with some spending set to expire this week.

To pay for the tax benefits package, the deal would curb an employee retention tax credit passed amid the COVID-19 pandemic aimed at helping businesses avoid layoffs, the reports said.