The U.S. Congress has approved Trump's "great and beautiful" tax plan
OnThursday, the United States Congress approved the comprehensive fiscal reform promoted by Donald Trump, oneof the biggest tax cuts in the country's recent history. Trump will sign the law this Friday, which provides for major cuts in social programs, as well as a significant increase in the federal deficit over the next decade.
This measure sets the tax cuts introduced during the first term, setting a maximum rate of 37 per cent for permanent income tax and a standard deduction of $13,000 per taxpayer per year, as well as a tax credit of $2,200 per child, with the possibility of an increase.
Tips and overtime are also temporarily exempt from federal taxes: service sector workers will be able to deduct $25,000 a year for tips; and $12,500 for overtimeuntil 2028. This measure has been presented by Republicans as a direct relief for service sector workers.
The Act establishes a new 1% tax on cash shipments abroad, other than by bank or debit card. It is a softer version than previous proposals, which previously raised charges of 3.5% to 5%.
Given the impact on public accounts, the proposal has generated considerable controversy. According to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the cuts will reduce public revenues by between $4 billion and $5 billion by 2034. This could increase the federal deficit of , which is already around $1.1 billion, to $ 5 billionover the next ten years.
Programs like Medicaid and CHIP child insurance will lose about $860 billion over the next decade. Food aid like SNAP will also suffer cuts, although no specific figures have yet been specified.
At the same time, expenditure on migration control (170 billion in four years) has increased; 20,000 more ICE and CBP agents have been established; new detention centres have been created; and infrastructure such as walls, surveillance towers and artificial intelligence systemswill be built.
Military spending will have a historic upturn: defense spending will be EUR 150 billion, part of which will go to the missile shield known as the "Golden Dome, "a project questioned by several experts for its high cost and the potential to strengthen the global arms race.
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