Legislation · 2017

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

Enacted through the budget reconciliation process as Public Law 115–97 and signed by President Trump after passing both houses without a single Democratic vote, the law permanently cut the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and moved the taxation of foreign earnings toward a territorial system. For individuals it temporarily lowered most income tax rates, nearly doubled the standard deduction, doubled the child tax credit to $2,000 and created a 20 percent deduction for certain pass-through business income. It also capped the deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000 and reduced the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty to zero.

“The amount of the tax imposed by subsection (a) shall be 21 percent of taxable income.”

December 22, 2017

Why it matters

The broadest overhaul of the tax code since 1986, it remains contested: supporters credit it with spurring investment and growth, while critics point to its effect on deficits and the distribution of its benefits. Its expiring individual provisions were made permanent, with changes, by legislation signed on July 4, 2025.

Read the full text at govinfo.gov

Primary Source

The original record, reproduced or linked from the institution that holds it. Primary sources show what people said and did in their own words.

Subjects

economy taxes business congress

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