JCT appears to publish Senate GOP tax bill cost analysis after tax bill vote

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) appeared to publish its final analysis of the cost of the Senate GOP tax bill after the legislation had already passed the upper chamber.

The JCT posted its analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on its official Twitter account at 2:56 a.m. on Saturday, an hour after the bill was voted on in the Senate. 

Joint Committee estimates the revenue effects of a perfecting amendment to the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”, as reported by the Senate Committee on Finance.https://t.co/8MdIhoHRRE

— JCT Congress (@jctgov) December 2, 2017

The analysis shows that the bill will cost $1.45 trillion over the next 10 years.

{mosads}The Senate passed the bill just before 2 a.m., voting 51-49 on the legislation to overhaul the tax code and capping days of GOP leaders frantically working to secure the necessary 50 votes to pass the bill. The bill was under revision until shortly before the vote.

Just one Republican, Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), broke with his party and voted against the bill over concerns on the impact the bill would have on the deficit.

“This is a great day for the country,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said during a press conference after the vote.

“We have an opportunity now to make America more competitive, to keep jobs from being shipped offshore and to provide substantial relief for the middle class.”

The bill would lower tax rates for individuals through 2025 and permanently cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. The bill’s tax cuts for individuals are temporary in order to comply with budget rules that the measure can’t add to the deficit after 10 years.

The bill would also repeal ObamaCare’s individual mandate and open up a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling.

In an analysis of the economic impact of a previous version of the bill on Thursday, the JCT said the bill would still cost about $1 trillion, even after factoring in economic growth. That means the bill wouldn’t produce enough economic growth to fully pay for its tax cuts.

The Senate’s tax bill will now head to a conference committee with the House, where the two chambers will attempt to reconcile the different versions of the legislation.