• The House GOP unveiled its massive tax-reform bill on Thursday.
• Some features proposed: a new top tax rate, new tax brackets, a lower corporate rate, and a compromise on the state and local tax deduction.
• The bill is the biggest step yet toward the GOP's promised overhaul of the US tax code.

House GOP leaders on Thursday took their biggest step yet in their attempt to overhaul the US tax code by releasing legislation that proposes sweeping changes to the current system.

The 429-page "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" includes a broad set of proposed changes to the corporate and individual tax system, building off a nine-page framework that the White House and congressional Republican leaders dropped in September.

"My administration will work tirelessly to make good on our promise to the working people who built our nation and deliver historic tax cuts and reforms — the rocket fuel our economy needs to soar higher than ever before," said US President Donald Trump, who has expressed a desire to sign a bill into law by Christmas.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady, the author of the tax bill, said the House should pass the plan by Thanksgiving.

Significantly, Brady said the bill would add $1.51 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. The Senate is set to use the process known as budget reconciliation to move the bill and avoid a Democratic filibuster. Among other rules, the reconciliation framework in the recently passed budget resolution allows for the bill to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years.

Brady, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and other House GOP leaders touted the bill in a press conference on Thursday and argued it would save the average family of four $1,182 a year on their taxes.

But different groups would benefit in different ways from the plan. How the gains would be distributed among different income groups and localities was not yet clear.

The details

Here are some of the legislation's key proposals:

• The highest tax bracket would remain at 39.6%:
• According to reports

• A change to the state and local tax deduction.
• the proposed elimination of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction
• Brady said Tuesday
• Corporate tax cut will be immediate and permanent.
• Immediate expensing of business investments:
• Elimination of the estate tax.
• appears to be mulling preserving
• Repatriation tax rate.
• No repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate.
• No changes to 401(k) plans.
• Increase in the size of the child tax credit.
• Limiting home-mortgage-interest deduction.
• A larger standard deduction.
• may be misleading
• A 25% rate for pass-through businesses.
• Elimination of most personal itemized deductions and many credits.
• Repeal of the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
• Repeal the Johnson Amendment.
• Eliminate the ability to deduct interest on bonds for sports stadiums from federal taxes.

Mixed reaction

As details of the bill began to trickle out, reactions poured in. The changes to the mortgage-interest deduction and other provisions sent stocks of homebuilders sliding. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF was down roughly 2.5% Thursday morning and shares of major builders D.R. Horton, Pulte Group, and Lennar all slipped.

On the other side, Business Insider's Joe Ciolli reported that companies with a higher effective tax rate and those with a lot of money held overseas rallied strongly on the release of the bill in anticipation of possible higher profits.

Outside of the markets, politicians and advocacy groups immediately rushed to react to the bill.

The National Association of Realtors told Business Insider's Akin Oyedele that the bill would not benefit homeowners.

"We are currently reviewing the details of the tax proposal released today, but at first glance it appears to confirm many of our biggest concerns about the Unified Framework," said NAR President William Brown in a statement. "Eliminating or nullifying the tax incentives for homeownership puts home values and middle-class homeowners at risk, and from a cursory examination this legislation appears to do just that. We will have additional details upon a more thorough reading of the bill."

The National Association of Homebuilders also took a shot at the bill.

"The details that are coming out show that the House Republicans are picking large corporations and wealthy Americans over small businesses and middle-class American homeowners," Jerry Howard, the NAHB's CEO, said.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio criticized the size of the increase for the child tax credit on Twitter, saying it did not go far enough.

"House #TaxReform plan is only starting point. But $600 #ChildTaxCredit increase doesn’t achieve our & @POTUS goal of helping working families," Rubio said.