A week after Trump announced the creation of a special tax credit for businesses that sell residential real estate, Republicans in Congress are taking aim at the bill that would provide the cash, the tax code says.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted Thursday to move the House bill to the Senate, a move that could speed up the bill’s passage and could result in a final bill before the end of the year.
The tax code has not been amended since Trump took office in January and has yet to go into effect.
The bill would create a $25,000 credit for those who sell a home in the city of New York, but that credit only applies to homeowners who own the home in New York City.
The House bill would also allow up to $25 million in additional tax credits for individuals and couples who sell their homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
If the bill passes both chambers, it would likely pass in both chambers and head to Trump’s desk for his signature.
Trump on Wednesday announced the new tax credit, which is similar to a credit that would be available for renters in most other states.
The White House said the new credit would be $50,000 for a single person who lives in a three- or four-bedroom home in a five- or six-county area and $50 for a couple who lives together in a home with three or four bedrooms.
“It is a big win for the American worker, and it’s a big victory for our economy,” Trump said in a statement after the bill was passed.
The White House also said the tax credit would go to people who make less than $250,000 a year, as well as the people who do not earn enough to qualify for a credit.
The Senate bill would expand the credit to $250 to $500,000.
Trump and other Republicans said they were pleased that Democrats have pushed for the new provision to help homeowners who were able to sell their properties, but they said they are worried about the impact on middle-class families who have been left out.
Democrats and the White New York Association, an industry group that represents homebuilders and other homeowners, said that a provision that allows a $250 credit for homeowners who sell was not designed to benefit those in the middle class.
The new provision also was not included in the House version of the bill.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the bill “was never meant to help the middle- and lower-income Americans who were being priced out of the market” and added that the GOP’s attempt to fix the code to make it more affordable for homeowners is “an insult to the people of New Jersey.”
Pelosi said the House GOP tax bill “would not provide the middle classes a tax cut or a tax break at all, because this is a tax bill designed to help a few rich people at the expense of the middle and working families who can’t afford to live in New England.”
Democrats said the GOP tax plan “would actually raise taxes on working families by nearly $1,000 per household for middle-income families.”
The White New Jersey Association said in the statement that the Senate bill does not provide any relief for homeowners.
“The Senate tax bill will raise taxes for middle and lower income Americans, who will pay higher taxes than their counterparts in the Trump administration,” the group said.
“The Whitehouse and Senate Republicans have refused to provide any solutions to this problem.”
Read moreHouse Republicans are expected to push for changes to the tax bill, including raising the limit on the credit and increasing the number of people eligible for the tax break.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has said the Senate GOP tax proposal will be “fiscally responsible” and he will work with Trump and Democrats to find a compromise.
Trump has already said he is open to changes to his tax bill.