Lawmakers in Congress have their eyes on several pieces of tax-related legislation that may or may not get passed this year, though the upcoming November midterm election is bound to affect any possibility of the bills advancing.
During his
Extending the Trump Accounts beyond 2028, and the tariff authority beyond 150 days, as well as creating the new retirement accounts, would presumably require an act of Congress and not just an executive order. However, in a closely divided Congress that could change hands after the midterm elections, those outcomes are in doubt.
In January, the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus of House Republicans, released a
On the energy front, the RSC is proposing to create Residential Emergency Asset Accumulation Deferred Taxation Yield accounts that allow Americans to contribute to new tax-free savings accounts known as READY Accounts specifically for home mitigation and disaster recovery expenses.
However, many of the proposals are not likely to get enacted into law this year, although they bear watching, especially if Republicans make gains after the midterms.
"The reality is that there's a lot of other priorities that they have to deal with," said Sarah Adkisson, a tax director at EisnerAmper, a Top 25 Firm based in New York. "There hasn't been a huge amount of buy-in from the White House, or from the Ways and Means or the Senate Finance Committee in terms of supporting the idea of a second reconciliation bill, particularly one this large. I don't see this particular framework getting over the hurdle before the end of the year."
The congressional calendar will also work against the proposals. "In reality, given how much time Congress has off for campaigning for the midterms — they're out for all of August, they're out for all of October — if we don't see a real framework come together very soon, an actual legislative text being put together and drafting committees being put together on, say, Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee, then there's not a real chance of this particular framework becoming law," said Adkisson.
Nevertheless, the proposals could be a sign of things to come. They include no tax on capital gains of sales of residence to first time homebuyers or tenants, a repeal of the estate tax, and extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, a reintroduction of third-party litigation funding excise tax, an increase of the remittance tax to 5% and expand application to all electronic transfers of money, and the establishment of accounts for home savings and expand eligibility to remove funds from retirement accounts to purchase homes.
"I think that it's always really good to keep an eye on these types of things," said Adkisson. "The Republican Study Committee is putting pressure on other members of Congress, including members of Ways and Means and the Finance Committee, to have conversations about this, to try to get more buy-in. If momentum begins to grow, or if Republicans do decide that they want to do a second reconciliation bill, then certainly maybe not all, but some of these provisions could be included in the bill."
Some of the proposals have bipartisan support, she pointed out, such as extending the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which expired at the end of 2025, and making housing and homebuying more affordable, and those could be included in future bipartisan legislation.
Some tax-related bipartisan measures have indeed been passed by Congress since the OBBBA, mostly involving administration of the Internal Revenue Service. Those include the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act, which
Last December,
Adkisson is also monitoring progress on cryptocurrency legislation in Congress. One bill, known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act for short, was passed by the House last July and would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets in terms of whether they would be under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But it stalled in the Senate after a prominent crypto company pulled back its support.
"Whatever ends up becoming law is probably not going to look like what passed the House completely," said Adkisson.
Another bill known as the Digital Asset Protection, Accountability, Regulation, Innovation, Taxation and Yields (PARITY) Act was introduced last December and aims to modernize the Tax Code to treat digital assets in a similar way as financial assets.
The cryptocurrency industry has been lobbying hard for business-friendly legislation after successfully winning
"I think she's going to put in a concerted effort to really have something as a legacy in terms of cryptocurrency," said Adkisson. "She's been such a big advocate for the industry in some ways, so I certainly see her, at least, wanting to get something over the finish line before the end of her term."
Democrats are also hoping to see an extension of the enhanced premium tax credits for buying health insurance after the 43-day government shutdown last year failed to get them extended. Adkisson believes there's a possibility that Republicans could agree to a one- or two-year extension with income limits imposed.
In December, Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, introduced the Consumer Affordability and Responsibility Enhancement (CARE) Act to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits for two years, cap income eligibility for these subsidies, and eliminate zero-premium plans under the ACA. The prospects appear to be fading for an extension of those tax credits without support from the Trump administration, although in January, the House passed a bill known as the Breaking the Gridlock Act that would extend the enhanced premium tax credits for three years, with 17 Republicans joining Democrats to support the bill.
