Skip to content

On Nov. 19, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, which contains many of the major Biden administration policy proposals on health care, education, climate change, and other areas. To offset the cost of these proposals, the Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that the bill contains $1.476 trillion in new federal revenues.

Many of the Build Back Better “offsets” proposed earlier in the year were not included (such as applying the payroll tax to incomes above $400,000, taxing capital gains as ordinary income above $1 million, and increasing the corporate rate to 28%), but several other significant proposals are in the bill.

The legislation now will be considered by the U.S. Senate, which is certain to make additional changes. However, it is likely that most of the proposed revenue increases will remain in any version of the Build Back Better Act considered by the Senate in the weeks ahead.

The table below lists the top 10 revenue raisers in the House-passed bill.

Provision, IRC section, and Effective Date Revenue Impact 2022-31
Corporate alternative minimum tax (IRC § 55, 59, new § 56A) (tax years beginning after 12/31/22) $ 318.9 bil.
Application of net investment income tax to trade or business income of certain high-income individuals (IRC § 1411) (tax years beginning after 12/31/21) $ 252.2 bil.
Surcharge on high-income individuals (5% on AGI over $10 mil., 8% on AGI over $25 mil.) (new IRC § 1A, technical changes to §§ 453A, 876, 877, 904 962, 1291, 1301, 1398, 1446, 6015, 6225, and 7519) (tax years beginning after 12/31/21) $ 227.8 bil.
Limitations on excess business losses of noncorporate taxpayers made permanent, with carryforward modifications (IRC § 461(l)) (tax years beginning after 12/31/20) $ 160.3 bil.
Modifications to deduction for foreign-derived intangible income and global intangible low-taxed income (IRC § 172, § 250) (generally applies to tax years beginning after 12/31/22) $ 144.3 bil
Excise tax on repurchase of corporate stock (new IRC § 4501) (repurchases of stock after 12/31/21) $ 124.2 bil.
Modifications to base erosion and anti-abuse tax (IRC § 59A) (tax years beginning after 12/31/21) $ 67.1 bil.
Modifications to inclusion of global intangible low-taxed income (IRC § 951A) (generally applies to tax years of foreign corporations beginning after 12/31/22, and tax years of U.S. shareholders in which taxable year of foreign corporation ends) $ 57.0 bil.
Limitations on deduction for interest expense (IRC § 163(o), 163(j)) (tax years beginning after 12/31/22) $ 27.9 bil.
Adjusted basis limitation for divisive reorganization (IRC § 361) (reorganizations occurring on or after date of enactment) $ 17.8 bil.
SUBTOTAL $ 1,397.5 bil.
OTHER PROVISIONS $ 78.6 bil.
TOTAL $ 1,476.1 bil.

Other notable provisions include the following:

  • Expansion of constructive sales and wash sale rules to Digital Assets (IRC 1091) (sales, dispositions, and terminations after 12/31/21) ($16.8 bil.)
  • Modifications to foreign tax credit limitation (IRC § 904, 905, technical changes to §§ 250, 864, 901, 907, 6511) (generally applies to taxable years after 12/31/22) ($12.0 bil.)
  • Modification to the Portfolio Interest Exemption rules (IRC 871) (obligations issued after date of enactment) ($2.1 bil.)
  • Deduction for foreign source portion of dividends limited to Control Foreign Corporations (CFCs); modifications to rules for determining the status of foreign corporations as CFCs and for income inclusion under CFC rules (IRC 245A, new § 951B) (generally applies to distributions made after date of enactment) ($451 mil.)

Source: Estimated Budget Effects of the Revenue Provisions of Title XIII – Committee on Ways and Means, of H.R.5376, the “Build Back Better Act,” as Passed by the House of Representatives, Joint Committee on Taxation, JCX-46-21, Nov. 19, 2021.

Note: The Congressional Budget Office, in compiling an overall cost estimate for the bill, relies on the Joint Committee on Taxation to provide estimates of changes to the Internal Revenue Code.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Robert Mangas Robert Mangas

Rob is a shareholder in the firm’s Federal Government Law & Policy group. He has represented clients before Congress and federal agencies from a variety of industries and in a number of policy areas, including trade, energy, environment, health care, biotechnology, transportation, financial…

Rob is a shareholder in the firm’s Federal Government Law & Policy group. He has represented clients before Congress and federal agencies from a variety of industries and in a number of policy areas, including trade, energy, environment, health care, biotechnology, transportation, financial services, manufacturing, tax, pensions, defense, and foreign relations. Rob has a depth of understanding of the rules of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and he has deep experience in legislative drafting. He previously served as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Wendell Ford, the former Senate Majority Whip.

Concentrations

  • Health care
  • Energy
  • Biotechnology
  • Manufacturing
  • Foreign affairs
Photo of Marvin A. Kirsner Marvin A. Kirsner

Marvin A. Kirsner is a shareholder in the Fort Lauderdale office where his primary areas of practice deal with corporate, transactional and industry specific tax issues. He serves as the Co-Chair of the State and Local Tax (SALT) Practice.

Photo of Pallav Raghuvanshi Pallav Raghuvanshi

Pallav Raghuvanshi focuses his practice on U.S. and international tax matters in the context of corporate restructurings and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He is experienced handling spin-off transactions for large multinational companies, various inbound and outbound transactions involving issues related to foreign tax…

Pallav Raghuvanshi focuses his practice on U.S. and international tax matters in the context of corporate restructurings and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He is experienced handling spin-off transactions for large multinational companies, various inbound and outbound transactions involving issues related to foreign tax credits, tax treaties, controlled foreign corporations, and other international reorganization issues. He also handles U.S. federal tax aspects of initial coin offering / first token sales and other tax-related issues on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.