Yesterday, the full House passed its tax reform proposal, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), on a party-line vote, 227-205.  In addition to the headline changes to the corporate and individual tax systems, the bill would make numerous changes to various fringe benefit exclusions, employer deductions for fringe benefits and executive compensation, cross-border withholding and sourcing, and employee retirement plans  (discussed here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee advanced its tax reform proposal, also on a party-line vote (14-12), with similar changes (discussed here and here). Before advancing the proposal to the floor, the Senate Finance Committee adopted additional modifications to its existing proposal.  The new modifications included a change to the transition rule for the modified deduction limitation for executive compensation, a delay in the effective date of the new deduction disallowance for meals provided at the convenience of the employer and excluded from employee’s income under Code section 119 or 132(e)(6), and a definition of Mississippi River Delta flood disaster area and Mississippi River Delta flooding distribution for purposes of the retirement plan relief provided in the existing proposal:

• The new transition relief for the deduction limitation under Code section 162(m) would apply the changes made in the proposal only to contracts entered into after November 2, 2017, and contracts materially modified after that date. The relief provided in the first modification to the chairman’s mark would have applied only if the compensation was no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture before 2017.
• The modification would delay the effective date for the deduction disallowance for meals provided for the employer’s convenience and meals provided at employer-operated eating facilities until 2026.
• The modification defines “Mississippi River Delta flood disaster area” as an area subject to a Presidential major disaster declaration before March 31, 2016, by reason of severe storms and flooding occurring in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi during March 2016. A “Mississippi River Delta flooding distribution” is a distribution from an eligible retirement plan made on or after March 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2018, to an individual whose principal residence on March 1, 2016, was located in the Mississippi River Delta flood disaster area and who sustained an economic loss by reason of the severe storms and flooding that resulted in the Presidential disaster declarations.  (The modification also provides for an enhanced ability to claim a casualty loss deduction as a result of such storms and flooding.)

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