WASHINGTON_As Republicans have repeatedly noted that it's been more than 30 years since Congress enacted a major tax overhaul _ and within the span of a couple of hours this past week, they unintentionally demonstrated why. As a House committee prepared to pass one version of a tax bill on a party line vote Thursday, Republicans on a Senate panel announced their legislation, which contained major differences in key areas involving individual and business taxes.
Trump administration officials and Republican congressional leaders downplayed the disparities even as the differences loomed as significant hurdles in the rush to pass legislation by year-end.
They noted that the bills are largely the same at the core. Each is centered on a huge cut in the corporate tax rate and makes revisions designed to provide a break to middle-class earners _ although independent analyses of the House bill say it would benefit the wealthy more than average Americans.
"Yes, the Senate bill is going to be different than the House bill because, you know what? That's the legislative process," House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday. "But what's encouraging in all of this is ... we have a framework that we established with the White House and the Senate, and these bills are being written inside that framework."
Here are five major differences between the two bills.
