The optional standard mileage rates for business use of a vehicle will increase slightly in 2018, after decreasing in the two previous years, the IRS announced Thursday (Notice 2018-3). For business use of a car, van, pickup truck, or panel truck, the rate for 2018 will be 54.5 cents per mile, up from 53.5 cents per mile in 2017. Taxpayers can use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile.

The U.S. Senate passed its version of tax reform, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, early Saturday morning by a vote of 51–49, with all Democrats, both independents, and one Republican voting no. The vote followed two long days of debate and amendments. The bill, as approved, differs significantly from the version that was introduced by the Senate Finance Committee.

After two days of markup, the Senate Finance Committee released a revised chairman’s mark of its version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act late on Tuesday. Among the many changes, the revised bill would sunset almost all tax changes affecting individuals after Dec. 31, 2025. This allows the bill to conform to the Senate’s budget reconciliation process, which requires bills to not increase the federal deficit for more than 10 years. The repeal of the alternative minimum tax would also sunset after 2025.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted 24–16 on Thursday to send the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, to the full House for a vote. However, the bill, as marked up by the committee, contains many changes from the original version of H.R. 1 released last week. Reportedly, some of these changes were made to reduce the 10-year cost of the bill, and according to a preliminary estimate by the Joint Committee on Taxation, the net effect of the bill as marked up would be to reduce federal revenues by

Thursday saw two developments in the tax reform legislative process. The Senate Finance Committee released a proposed tax reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the House Ways and Means Committee issued a revised version of H.R. 1, the bill it first introduced last week.

The Senate bill contains many of the same proposals as the House bill, but also differs in several significant respects from the proposed House bill.