Legislation championed by congressional Republicans to overhaul the nation’s tax code appears poised to become law soon, possibly as soon as Wednesday. The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate approved the legislation on Tuesday, and in a revote on Wednesday because of a technicality, the House approved it again. The measure now goes to President Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.
The legisation does not include some of the more controversial provisions that appeared in either its original House or Senate versions, such as a tax on graduate students’ tuition waivers, but it still contains several provisions that have been a cause for worry among people in higher education.
Here, briefly, is what you need to know about the soon-to-be-new tax law. It would:
- Double the standard deduction, which could discourage charitable giving, because charitable deductions can be used only when tax filers do not take the standard deduction.
- Impose a 1.4-percent excise tax on the investment earnings of some large private-college endowments. (Explore which colleges will be affected.)
- Institute a 21-percent tax on annual compensation in excess of $1 million paid to any of a nonprofit organization’s five highest-paid employees.
- Eliminate a deduction that sports fans may take for “seat-license fees,” which for many big-time college-sports programs is a key revenue stream with ticket sales.
And here are background stories from The Chronicle to provide context for and analysis of the legislation:
