Corporate taxes

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is about to face a legacy-defining test of whether he can keep his unruly caucus in line to deliver President Donald Trump’s coveted goal of “massive tax cuts” in 2017.

Tax breaks cherished by both the fossil fuel and renewable energy industries emerged unscathed in a tax plan unveiled in the U.S. Senate, according to details of the bill released Thursday evening by the chamber’s main tax writing committee.

Republican tax writers in the House and Senate scoured the U.S. tax code Thursday and shook the couch cushions for loose change, as one member put it, in an all-day struggle to find ways to pay for the deep tax cuts their leaders and President Donald Trump have promised.

A sweeping amendment from the chairman of the House tax writing committee transformed key provisions of the GOP tax overhaul bill to boost the rate applied to companies’ offshore cash, tweak rules for pass-through businesses and restore the adoption credit, ahead of a full House vote that’s expected next week.

The Senate tax bill that’s due to be released Thursday won’t include an excise tax on certain payments U.S. multinationals make to overseas affiliates, according to a person familiar with the legislation.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin isn’t ruling out delaying the start of a corporate tax rate cut, but emphasized the administration’s “strong preference” is for the relief to start in 2018.

The House tax-writing committee entered its third day of work Wednesday to hammer out the details of the Republican tax cut plan. Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day.

The tax reform bill introduced last week includes major provisions related to the taxation of companies’ foreign income and of foreign persons.

Multinational companies including Apple Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Ford Motor Co. would face a new tax on payments they make to offshore affiliates under the House Republicans’ tax bill—a surprise provision that has stunned tax experts.

House Republicans should slow down their consideration of a tax-overhaul bill after investigative reports Sunday alleged offshore tax-avoidance by U.S. multinational companies including Apple Inc. and Nike Inc., congressional Democrats and tax-advocacy groups said.