The Nation - News from Aug. 1, 1986

After a daylong delay, House tax-revision negotiators reached agreement on a promised “big bang” tax proposal, mixing both the low rates and more generous deductions for the middle and upper classes. They had been expected to reach agreement Wednesday night. The proposal, a response to a more modest Senate offer Tuesday, bogged down for a time because it would increase the federal deficit, a House spokesman said. The Senate had proposed to finance lower rates for the majority of taxpayers by adding about $120 billion to the corporate tax burden over the next five years. Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said the House was proposing to raise the corporate tax bite another $22 billion, to $142 billion, but Senate negotiators have warned that they would reject another large hike in business taxes.