[20180605]IN10913_税收支出：2017年税务修订前后（P.L115-97).pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Tax Expenditures: Before and After the 2017 Tax Revision (P.L. 115-97) (name redacted) Specialist in Public Finance June 5, 2018 Tax reform debates, including the debate surrounding the 2017 tax revision (P.L. 115-97), often consider the option of broadening the tax base in exchange for a reduction in statutory tax rates. One means of base-broadening is reducing or eliminating “tax expenditures,” or revenue losses attributable to special provisions in the tax code. Policymakers also evaluate tax expenditures from a federal budgeting perspective, as tax expenditures may be viewed as “spending through the tax code.” Though P.L. 115-97 makes major changes to the U.S. federal tax system, in aggregate, the change in the value of tax expenditures resulting from P.L. 115-97 appears modest. The Sum of Tax Expenditures: Modest Changes Following P.L. 115-97 One way to examine how P.L. 115-97 might have changed the aggregate value of tax expenditures is to compare the sum of the Joint Committee on Taxations (JCTs) tax expenditure estimates prepared in 2017, and the sum of JCTs 2018 tax expenditure estimates (see Fi