The real estate and banking lobbies asked, the White House’s regulatory review office listened—and then the administration helped those industries become eligible for a $414.5 billion perk in the 2017 tax law.
New documents provided by the Office of Management and Budget show that during the White House body’s review of IRS proposed rules for the law’s 20 percent pass-through write-off, the regulations were revised to keep real estate agents and brokers, lenders, insurance agents and brokers, and others from losing out on the deduction if their income is above certain levels. It’s unclear whether the office, the Treasury Department, or the Internal Revenue Service directed the revisions.