US Senate approves major tax bill

By Ilker Girit

ISTANBUL (AA) - The U.S. Senate early Wednesday morning has approved the most sweeping tax bill since the 1970s.

The Republican bill passed with by a 51-48 vote as announced by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence who chaired the vote.

The House of Representatives will vote for final approval on Wednesday.

Democrat Sen. Kamala Harris from California described the passed bill as "a travesty".

Harris wrote on Twitter that the law "gives even more tax breaks to the top 1 percent and permanently cuts corporate tax rates at the expense of middle class families. This isn’t what Americans wanted [...]."

After a series of amendments in a marathon session -- some changes had been scribbled in the bill’s margins -- it passed the House by a 227-203 vote on Tuesday, marking the largest tax overhaul in 31 years with nearly $1.5 trillion in cuts.

The bill aims permanently lower the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from the existing 35 percent.

The bill also reduces the number of tax brackets from seven to four at 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and 39.6 percent.

President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers claim the bill would serve as a boon to the middle class, despite several independent analyses that found it skewed toward corporations and the wealthy.