U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he leaves the White House en route to Mar-a-lago Estate in Florida after signing the tax cut bill into law in Washington D.C., the United States, on Dec. 22, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a 1.5-trillion-dollar tax cut bill into law, as well as a spending bill to keep the federal government running through January 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a 1.5-trillion-dollar tax cut bill into law, as well as a spending bill to keep the federal government running through January 19, 2018.
The U.S. Congress this week passed the tax bill along party line, with no Democrats voting for it.
At the signing ceremony, Trump called it "a bill for the middle class and a bill for jobs," adding that "corporations are literally going wild."
The tax bill, the sweeping rewrite of U.S. tax law since 1986, would cut the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from the current 35 percent and lower individual income rates.
The tax bill is expected to add 1.46 trillion U.S. dollars to federal deficits over the next 10 years, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.
In order to avoid further adding budget deficits, the individual tax cuts would expire by the end of 2025, while the corporate tax cuts would be permanent in order to stimulate investment.
With Trump's signature, the tax bill will become effective from January, 2018.
On Friday, Trump also signed a short-term spending bill that cleared the House and Senate Thursday night. The spending bill included 4.7 billion dollars in emergency funding requested by the administration for missile defense.
