OBBB H.R. 1 - Some Track Changes and Commentary

I find it helpful in understanding changes to Code sections to use track changes to readily see what was removed and what was added. And when the text of the public law says something like replace "(B)(ii)" at paragraph (d)(1), it is difficult to picture that in your head and you might make a mistake in figuring out what the change does.

I've done this with past public laws such as the TCJA and IRA 2022.

I'll have more, but for now, check out:

Section 68 with the new limitation for itemizers in the 37% top bracket starting in 2026. There have been proposals in the past for further cut back such as to provide that the savings from itemized deductions can't be more than 25% or 28%. This cut back to 35% is not much.

Section 163(h) with change to the mortgage interest deduction and new temporary interest on domestic car loans. It is odd that they put the car loan at Section 163(h)(4) thereby splitting the mortgage interest rules that are at 163(h)(3) and (5).  I already posted comments on the car loan provision that likely won't get a lot of use for the target group based on income and given the tremendous difference in price between new and used cars and domestic versus foreign, and the small tax savings from the interest deduction.

Section 170 on charitable contribution deduction with a few OBBB provisions making changes.

Section 199A on the qualified business income (QBI) deduction with key change being making it permanent at the same 20% rate (House proposal for a 23% deduction is NOT in final legislation). A minimum $400 deduction if QBI from active business of at least $1,000, starting after 2025. A few modifications due to §68 limitation on overall itemized deductions.

Section 461(l) on excess business loss of noncorporate taxpayers is made permanent (it was already in the law through 2028). Minor modifications on inflation adjustment.

More to come.

Hope these are helpful.

H.R. 1 OBBBA's New Limited Deduction for Interest on Car Loan

H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) (officially known as An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14) was signed into law on July 4, 2025. It has just over 100 tax changes! One of these is at SEC. 70203, No Tax on Car Loan Interest. Technically, it is a deduction for interest on certain car loans available to individuals below specified modified AGI levels, whether or not they itemize.

In reviewing the details, it doesn't seem that it will benefit too many people because the Senate added a requirement that it must be a new vehicle (the House allowed the deduction for a used vehicle), the income levels are low relative to the average price of a new vehicle being almost $50,000, and the eligible individuals having a marginal tax rate of 10%, 12% or 22% will find that the tax savings will be less than the money savings of buying a used car. Note that by "benefit" I don't mean just getting a lower tax bill, but having to spend more money to get the tax break when comparing the cost differential between a new and used vehicle.

Here is my summary of this new provision and some observations and an example (it's a bit long as is SEC. 70203!).

•        §163(h)(4)

•        Existing (h)(4) becomes (h)(5).

•        Deduction available for 2025 through 2028.

•        Deduction from AGI even if don’t itemize.

•        Apparently also allowed for AMT.

•        Qualified Passenger Vehicle Loan Interest - Debt incurred after 2024 for purchase of, and secured by, a first lien on “applicable passenger vehicle” for personal use.

•        Refinancing of such debt that doesn’t exceed balance at refinancing date.

•        No related party financing.

•        Interest deduction can’t exceed $10,000 for any tax year.

•        Phaseout - Reduce otherwise deductible amount by $200 for each $1,000 or portion thereof by which MAGI exceeds $100,000 ($200,000 if MFJ)

•        MAGI = AGI + §911, §931 and §933 exclusions

•        Must include VIN on return.

•        “Applicable passenger vehicle”

•        Original use starts with taxpayer.

•        Manufactured primarily for use on public roads.

•        Has at least 2 wheels.

•        Is a car, minivan, van, SUV, pickup truck or motorcycle.

•        Treated as a motor vehicle under Title II of Clean Air Act.

•        Has gross vehicle weight of less than 14,000 pounds.

•        Final assembly was in the U.S. (§163(h)(4)(E)(i)) (Observation: Likely dealer will have info.)

•        New §6050AA – lender required to issue information report (likely 1098 type) if interest is $600 or more. Must show origin date of loan and year, make, model and VIN of vehicle, and other info required by IRS.

•        Observations:

•        Interest rates on new cars per B of A at July 2025 is 5.64%.

•        Higher if have poor credit score.

•        Average new car price per Kelley Blue Book is $49,740.

•        Loan amount to generate $10,000 of interest expense is

•        $166,667 if interest rate if 6%

•        $ 76,923 if interest rate is 13%

•        Once MAGI reaches following, no interest deduction:

•        $150,000

•        $250,000 if MFJ

•        If financing 80% of new car costing $45,000 (so loan of $36,000), likely need income of $30,000 before taxes (but also relevant other expenses and debts outstanding).

•        Interest expense on $36,000 loan at 6% = $2,160

•        Tax savings at marginal rate of

•        12% = $259

•        22% = $475

•        Given price difference between new and used vehicles, tax savings of deducting interest not enough to justify buying a new versus used vehicle.

•        Example:

•        1/2/25 - Amy, single, with 2025 MAGI of $110,000 purchased new car for personal use for $35,000 and financed $30,000 with dealer at 6%.

•        Car assembled in U.S.

•        2025 interest expense is $1,800

•        Amy’s MAGI of $110,000 requires her to reduce deduction by 10 x $200 or $2,000, but not below $0 so she has no possible deduction.

•        If Amy’s MAGI were instead $100,000, she can deduct entire $1,800 of interest. Savings for Amy who has marginal rate of 22% is $396.

•        Observation: Amy will save far more than $396 per year for four years by purchasing a used vehicle and having a smaller loan or buying a less expensive new car with a smaller loan.

My take: Given that the people who qualify for this won't have $10,000 of interest expense, the phaseout level starts at fairly low amounts for people likely to be able to afford a new car, the reporting requirement for lenders, this provision should have been omitted and the $30 billion it costs the fisc over 4 years (per JCX-35-24 (7/1/25)) should have been used for deficit reduction.

Comments?  Do you think I got anything wrong?

What do you think?

OBBBA Effective Dates Caution

Often, the effective date for tax legislation is for tax years beginning after 12/31/xx with xx being the year the legislation was enacted. So, provisions often start the year after the law is enacted. That doesn't give much time for planning or for the IRS to issue needed guidance. For example, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017 with most provisions effective 1/1/18.

The House's 5/22/25 and Senate's 6/28/25 versions of the One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R. 1) have varying effective dates both within the bill and between these versions for similar provisions. Also, some provisions in the House are temporary and most in the Senate are permanent.

But I want to highlight a few changes that would repeal provisions for individuals this year that were supposed to be in the law through 2032! 

These provisions were set to expire after 2032 per changes made by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Residential energy credits of Sections 25C and 25D (§25D was to phase out for 2033 and 2034):

  House and Senate bills - these credits end for property placed in service after 12/31/25.

Used clean vehicle credit of Section 25E:

  House bill - must acquire (take possession) by 12/31/25

  Senate bill - must acquire by 9/30/25

New clean vehicle credit of Section 30D:

  House bill - ends after 2025 but for 2026, limited to vehicles for which manufacturer produced no more than 200,000 vehicles.

   Senate bill - must acquire by 9/30/25

So, it's important to watch for the effective date in the final bill. But, if someone is eligible and really wants the clean vehicle credit, best to assume it ends 9/30/25. And if you really want the solar panel credit of §25D (or other items it covers) or energy efficient doors, windows and other items of §25C, best to act now to be sure it is all installed by 12/31/25. While it is unlikely the new termination date will be later than 2025 for the residential energy credits given current versions of OBBB, you never know.

What do you think?

H.R. 1 OBBB Depreciation Query

H.R. 1, One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, was passed by the House on May 22 and the Senate is still working on their version although the Senate Finance Committee released their tax provisions on June 16. There are lots of tax provisions in the bill! Just look at the House version's table of contents with tax changes running from SEC. 110000 to 112208 + SEC. 70301 modifying a multistate tax nexus provision from 1959.

Changes include extending many of the temporary provisions of the TCJA passed in December 2017, such as lower tax rates for individuals and a higher standard deduction. H.R. 1 brings back 100% bonus depreciation for eligible assets. Bonus depreciation had begun to phase down per TCJA terms to 80% starting in 2023, 60% in 2024 and 40% in 2025. See SEC. 111001

But I question what seems like an odd effective date for this depreciation change - eligible property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 (so starting on Inauguration Day). Property placed in service on January 1 to January 19 gets 40% bonus depreciation. Generally bonus depreciation rules apply per calendar year even for fiscal year taxpayers. So, why not allow 100% for all of 2025 especially given that the 40% for the first 19 days is from the TCJA drafted by the same party drafting H.R. 1? And it would follow the general rule of having the same rule for an entire calendar year. 

My query: What do you think - should we have 100% bonus for all of 2025 or only starting after January 19 and deal with 40% for the first 19 days? 100% versus 40% is a big difference in first year depreciation.

How Does the Revised SALT Cap in House OBBBA Work?

On May 22, the House passed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), and it now goes to the Senate Finance Committee where changes will occur. Some of the House provisions will need to be removed due to the Senate using the Budget Reconciliation Process which calls for restrictions on the nature of the changes, such as they must deal with revenues. And, the Senate will have different ideas on what is currently in the bill which includes over 40 tax changes and some non-tax provisions.

One item of contention among members of both parties is whether to keep the TCJA $10,000 SALT cap that expires at the end of this year. This is an important provision because it could cause the bill to not get enough votes to pass so compromise is likely. The House bill will increase the cap but adds a lot more, particularly to IRC Section 275, Certain Taxes. This rule is in Part IX of Subchapter B of Chapter 1 of Subtitle A or Title 26 (IRC); Part IX is titled Items Not Deductible. With the TCJA, the SALT cap was at IRC Section 164(b)(6) and was brief.

Where a legislative proposal or public law makes changes to various parts of an existing Code section, I often find it helpful to create a track changes of the affected Code sections to get a better understanding of the changes.  I have created such a document for the House's SALT changes which you can find in this 18-page pdf with changes shown using track changes.  Part of the reason it is long is because I include all of Section 164 despite few changes to it in order to get a better understanding of the changes to Section 275. The SALT cap changes also change a few partnership provisions.

I wish I could explain here how the SALT cap changes work, but I still need more time to figure it all out as the changes are a bit intertwined with other Code sections and H.R. 1 changes. This change does not meet the principle of simplicity!

If you have figured it all out I applaud you! Please leave comments to help us all out. 

It is likely that the Senate and Conference Committee will continue to make changes.

What do you think?