On November 2, the House Ways & Means Committee released HR1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”—its version of tax reform and passed the bill on November 16. Now, all the attention is on the Senate and its version, also termed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”, that was released by the Senate Finance Committee on November 9.  The Senate began its markup process on November 13, but hasn’t taken a vote yet. Lawmakers are back in their district this week for the Thanksgiving holiday and the Senate only has 15 days left on their official calendar. It’s likely that there could be a vote in the Senate during the week of November 27.

Shortly after the House bill was passed, AICPAs Barry Melancon stated, “As a long-time advocate for an efficient and pro-growth tax system based on principles of good tax policy, we commend the House for expanding the number of taxpayers who may use the cash method of accounting. We also applaud the decision to maintain the current tax treatment of nonqualified deferred compensation. We are encouraged by the progress made by lawmakers in recent days and believe this vote moves the nation one step closer to a fairer, simpler Tax Code.”

In addition to work being done by the AICPA, the FICPA Federal Taxation Committee is reviewing both proposals to provide their expert analysis on the potential impact to Floridians and businesses within the state. Already, the state CPA associations across the country have been engaged to represent the profession with their respective congressional delegations. “As the process in Washington moves forward, we continue to work with the AICPA and other states to review the potential impacts the proposals will have. We appreciate the hard work of our Fed Tax committee to independently look at the proposals and provide their views on what the impact will be here in Florida. We will certainly follow the progress that the two chambers make over the next few weeks and keep our members informed.”  

To stay on top of developments and the profession’s advocacy efforts, including a side-by-side comparison of the Senate and House approaches, visit the AICPA’s Tax Reform Resource Center at www.aicpa.org/taxreform.