DECEMBER 2024
Revenue Implications of Tax
Cut and Jobs Act Provisions
in 2025
By Sanam Rasool, Thibault Denamiel, and William A. Reinsch
A
s the U.S. presidential and congressional election frenzy has subsided, policymakers face
critical decisions regarding the fate of tax provisions enacted through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
(TCJA) of 2017. The bill, introduced by then-representative Kevin Brady (RTX) on November
2, 2017, with 24 Republican cosponsors, represented the most signicant tax policy overhaul since
the Reagan administration’s 1986 reform, introducing sweeping changes to individual, business, and
international taxation. The $1.5 trillion decit-nanced bill faced criticism from Democrats, who raised
process complaints regarding closed-door meetings, the release of a 500-page bill just days before the
nal vote, last-minute changes to the proposed law, and insucient opportunity for debate or expert
testimony. Despite these concerns, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the bill as Public Law
No. 11597, which was signed by then-president Donald Trump on December 22, 2017, with a nal vote
of 224201, without a single Democrat’s vote.
The bill was passed through a reconciliation process, which allowed making signicant changes to
the tax code with limited debate in the Senate and required only a simple majority for the passage
of the bill, rather than the typical 60-vote threshold. To comply with the Byrd Rule, which prevents
legislation from increasing the budget decit beyond 10 years, the bill’s architects included several
sunset provisions pertaining to individual and business taxation, which are set to expire at the end of
2025. This expiration deadline presents an opportunity for policymakers to reassess and potentially
recalibrate the tax code based on the TCJA’s observed impacts and evolving economic needs.
How Americans Reacted to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Whereas Democrats decried the new law as a bane for middle-class Americans, the ruling Republican
Party touted the act as a key to U.S. economic prosperity, envisioning Americans on course to derive
twin benets of higher wages and tax cuts. Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
