Senate bill quietly hands corporations a bigger tax deduction — again

What it does

This bill reverses a recent change to how businesses calculate their interest deduction limit under the tax code. Specifically, it restores the older 'EBITDA' standard (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for measuring how much business interest expense companies can deduct, by striking a provision added by Public Law 119-21 that had modified the definition of 'adjusted taxable income.' Businesses — particularly capital-intensive ones with significant depreciation — benefit by being able to deduct more interest expense, reducing their tax bills.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is restoring a more favorable interest deduction standard for businesses, reducing their federal tax liability. The EBITDA acronym in the short title signals the corporate finance audience this provision serves.

What the text implies

• Restoring EBITDA-based deductibility disproportionately benefits capital-intensive industries (real estate, manufacturing, utilities, telecom) that carry large depreciation and amortization charges, since those charges are added back under EBITDA but not under the stricter EBIT standard.
• The revenue cost to the federal government — reduced tax receipts from expanded business interest deductions — is not quantified in the bill text; the Joint Committee on Taxation score would be needed to assess the fiscal impact.
• The bill applies retroactively to tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, meaning it takes effect immediately for the current tax year, giving businesses an immediate planning advantage.
• By referencing Public Law 119-21 as the source of the modification being repealed, the bill implicitly acknowledges that a very recent law tightened these rules; this is a rapid legislative reversal that may reflect lobbying pressure from affected industries.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Restoring EBITDA-based interest deductibility lowers taxes for businesses with heavy capital investment, which may support investment and employment, but it also reduces federal tax revenue — a cost borne by the general public — without a clear, direct benefit to ordinary citizens.

Who stands to gain

• capital-intensive corporations (manufacturing, real estate, utilities, telecom)
• private equity-backed companies with high leverage
• businesses with significant depreciation and amortization expenses

Named in the bill

Senate Committee on Finance, Internal Revenue Code Section 163(j), Public Law 119-21, Joint Committee on Taxation (implicitly relevant)

Where it stands

8 cosponsors: 8 Republicans.

• Mar 26, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Mar 26, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

12 lobbying clients named this bill on 13 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $49,620,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 10 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 93% of bills with at least one filing.

Shelley Capito, the sponsor, reported $2,021,591 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $3,500 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $36,700,000 on 2 filings
• Business Roundtable Inc — $6,950,000 on 1 filing
• American Chemistry Council — $2,570,000 on 1 filing
• Dell Technologies Inc — $1,490,000 on 1 filing
• Albemarle Corporation — $520,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.