Why the odd tax bracket intervals in the Senate Tax reform bill?

Question

The US Senate's recently adopted tax plan calls for seven tax brackets. Ignoring for the moment the tax rates attached to each bracket, it seems strange that the taxable income range for bracket 5 (320,000 to 400,000) appears to be inconsistent with size and other brackets: Tax bracket Size ------------------- ------- 1) 0 - 19,050 19,050 2) 19,050 - 77,400 58,350 3) 77,400 - 140,000 62,600 4) 140,000 - 320,000 180,000 5) 320,000 - 400,000 80,000 6) 400,000 - 1,000,000 600,000I can understand that the bracket intervals becoming progressively larger, but Bracket #5 seems to break that pattern. As a note, that same peculiarity exists in the tax code currently in use. On the other hand the House Tax reform measure does not have this oddity in the 300,000 to 400,000 region.So, can anyone explain the rationale for this rather "small" tax bracket?Even though this would appear to be a "money" issue, since it is a dispute between the two houses of congress, it is very much a political policy question.

Answer 1

Of course, it can be very difficult to assign meaning to anything that Congress does, so I'm not sure your question can be answered.

Perhaps, though, it would be wise to consider what tax bracket most members of Congress will be subject to. Wouldn't it be rational for them to give themselves as much "upward space" in their tax bracket as they can without becoming subject to the next tax bracket?