The congressional deal reached Sunday is set to benefit the beer industry, restaurants, and federal workers, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Although details have not yet been released, the agreement is expected to include tax breaks seeking to bolster the economy during the coronavirus crisis, as well as the continuation of popular provisions that were due to expire at the end of the year.
One such example is, instead of excise tax increases that were set for Jan. 1, beer, wine, and spirits makers will continue to enjoy indefinitely the lower tax rates they have had since 2018.
Restaurants will also be helped out from the business meal break provision for the next two years, in which full write-offs inside of the current 50% limit will be allowed.
Although some criticized the deduction that encourages indoor dining during a pandemic, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who pushed for the clause, said his bill "will help save millions of restaurants across the nation from going under."
Federal workers will also benefit, as they are no longer required to pay back deferred taxes over the first four months of 2021, but will instead have until the end of next year.
President Donald Trump made federal employees participate in deferring their Social Security payroll taxes for the final four months of this year, even though the complexities and need to pay it back so soon had most others in the workforce opt out of it.
Democrats say a provision they championed will allow some low-income workers to get flexibility on their tax returns, as recipients of the child tax credit and earned-income tax credit can qualify for the 2020 credits based on their 2019 incomes, if that is better for them.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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