The Primary Care Enhancement Act of 2025 changes how certain primary care arrangements are treated for tax purposes. It defines "direct primary care service arrangements" as fixed-fee models (max $150/month per person, excluding prescriptions/anesthesia/labs) that won’t count as "health plans" under tax law. This allows the fees to be treated as deductible medical expenses and requires employers to report them on W-2 forms. The law applies to taxable years starting after 2025, affecting patients in these arrangements, employers offering them, and tax filing processes.
HR 996 extends and enhances a tax credit for employers that provide paid family and medical leave to employees. The bill gives eligible employers two options for claiming the credit: either a percentage of wages paid to employees on leave or a percentage of premiums paid for an insurance policy covering such leave (calculated as if leave were always available). It clarifies that state or local government-paid leave counts toward an employer’s leave provision but not toward the credit amount, and prevents double benefits by disallowing deductions for expenses used to claim the credit. The Small Business Administration and Internal Revenue Service must conduct outreach to help employers understand and access this credit.
This bill increases the tax credit for energy-efficient home improvements by doubling the dollar limit from $2,000 to $4,000. It specifically applies to heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, biomass stoves, and biomass boilers purchased for home use. The change takes effect for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. Homeowners making these eligible upgrades will receive a higher tax credit, directly reducing their federal tax liability.
HR 753, the FIRE Act of 2025, directs the NOAA Administrator to establish a program improving wildfire forecasting and detection to reduce loss of life and property. The bill requires developing advanced satellite detection, fuel moisture assessments, and coupled fire-atmosphere modeling systems to better predict wildfire spread, smoke dispersion, and enable early detection. It authorizes $15 million for fiscal year 2026 to fund research testbeds for these capabilities, created through NOAA partnerships with industry and academia. This program directly affects communities at wildfire risk, firefighters, and emergency responders by enhancing early warning systems and risk communication.
The GORAC Act of 2025 requires the government's watchdog office (Comptroller General) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of federal agencies and programs every 10 years, starting within one year of the bill's enactment. A non-Federal auditor will identify duplicative, wasteful, or outdated programs - recommending consolidation of agencies with identical functions or elimination of those that wasted funds, completed their purpose, or failed to meet goals. Any savings from these changes must be used to reduce the national debt, and affected federal employees must be offered relocation assistance within government positions. The bill applies broadly to most federal agencies and programs (excluding military installations and pure entitlement programs), with Congress required to consider implementation bills based on the auditor's recommendations within 15 days of submission.
This bill permanently excludes forgiven mortgage debt on primary residences from taxable income under the Internal Revenue Code. It directly affects homeowners who have their mortgage debt forgiven (e.g., through short sales or foreclosure) by preventing them from owing income tax on the forgiven amount. The key change amends tax code Section 108(a)(1)(E) to remove the temporary expiration date, making the exclusion permanent. The provision applies to mortgage debt discharged after December 31, 2025. This simplifies tax treatment for affected homeowners without creating new government programs or benefits.
HR 778, the Safeguarding American Workers’ Benefits Act, modifies Social Security Number (SSN) requirements for claiming the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). It requires taxpayers to provide SSNs issued to U.S. citizens or under specific legal provisions (as defined in the bill) before the tax return deadline, replacing previous allowances for certain alternative numbers. This directly affects individuals filing taxes who seek these credits, as they must now use only eligible SSNs to qualify. The changes apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. The bill does not alter the credit amounts but tightens verification rules for eligibility.
HR 561, the Overtime Pay Tax Relief Act of 2025, allows eligible hourly workers to deduct up to 20% of their legally required overtime pay from their taxable income. This deduction applies to workers earning overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, with income limits: $100,000 for single filers, $150,000 for heads of household, and $200,000 for married couples filing jointly. The deduction expires after 2029 and applies to all taxpayers, including those who don’t itemize deductions. It modifies tax withholding procedures to implement this new deduction starting from the bill’s enactment date.
HR 354, the Small Business Growth Act, increases tax deduction limits for small businesses purchasing equipment. It raises the annual deduction cap from $1 million to $2 million and the phaseout threshold from $2.5 million to $3.5 million under Section 179 of the tax code. These changes directly affect small businesses that buy qualifying depreciable assets like machinery or vehicles, allowing them to deduct more of the cost upfront. The provisions apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2025, with inflation adjustments updated to reference 2025 and 2026.
The Carried Interest Fairness Act of 2025 would change how certain investment management compensation is taxed by reclassifying net capital gains from "investment services partnership interests" as ordinary income rather than capital gains. This would affect private equity and hedge fund managers who receive carried interest as compensation, changing their tax treatment from capital gains rates to ordinary income rates. The bill creates specific rules that treat net capital gains as ordinary income while limiting capital losses to the amount of previously taxed ordinary income. It also requires that gains from dispositions of these interests be treated as ordinary income, and establishes special rules for qualified capital interests within these partnerships. The legislation would apply to partnerships where individuals provide investment management services related to the partnership's assets.
