Grant Thornton Advisors is adding Grant Thornton Switzerland/Lichtenstein and Grant Thornton in the Channel Islands to the multinational platform it launched earlier this year. Both transactions are expected to close later this year.

In January, Grant Thornton Advisors combined with Grant Thornton Ireland to create an integrated international firm. In April, it announced agreements with GT firms in Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands, as well as GT Netherlands in May.

The firm is backed by private equity firm New Mountain Capital, which acquired its majority stake in March 2024 after selling a majority stake in Top 100 Firm Citrin Cooperman. As a result of the PE investment, Grant Thornton took on an alternative practice structure, splitting its non-attest services into Grant Thornton Advisors and its audit and assurance services into Grant Thornton LLP.

By adding firms in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Channel Islands, Grant Thornton is expanding its geographic footprint and increasing its total headcount to 13,5000 professionals across nearly 60 offices over the Americas, Europe and Middle East. 

“We are very pleased to have our colleagues in the Channel Islands, Switzerland and Liechtenstein join our differentiated and expanding platform,” Jim Peko, CEO of Grant Thornton Advisors, said in a statement. “We’re building the world’s most talented team — delivering seamless offerings through an expanded footprint. The result: an unparalleled client experience and unmatched quality.”

Adam Budworth, managing partner of Grant Thornton Channel Islands, said in a statement: “This is an exciting opportunity to support our growth in the Channel Islands with access to new service offerings, technologies and investment capital. Joining the platform will only enhance the reputation of the Channel Islands on a bigger stage, while at the same time creating unique opportunities for our people.”

“I am delighted about this positive development and am convinced that it is the right step for our firm in the current turbulent market environment,” Erich Bucher, CEO of Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein, said in a statement. “It opens up completely new perspectives for us and will enable us to push ahead with our growth strategy much more quickly.”

Senate Republicans plan to modify President Donald Trump’s massive fiscal package to lower maximum deductions for state and local taxes and limit the impact of a “revenge” tax on foreign investors.

Senate GOP leaders also plan to cut deeper into Medicaid health insurance for the poor and disabled than House Republicans did in their version of the legislation to help pay for Trump’s tax cuts.

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee released their version of the legislation, which also would make permanent some business tax breaks that would only run through 2029 in the version the House passed last month by a single vote. 

Here are some of the key differences between the Senate and House tax bills. 

‘Revenge’ tax

The House bill’s Section 899 “revenge” tax has alarmed Wall Street analysts who warn it would create another disincentive for foreign investors already rattled by Trump’s erratic trade policies and the nation’s deteriorating fiscal accounts. 

Senate Republicans responded by delaying and watering down the levy, which would increase tax rates for individuals and companies from countries whose tax policies the government deems “discriminatory.” 

The Senate version would postpone that new tax until 2027 for calendar-year filers and raise it by 5 percentage points a year until it hits a 15% cap. The House version of the tax would take effect sooner and rise to 20% over four years on individuals and firms from targeted countries.

State and local tax deduction

Senate Republicans want to significantly scale back the House bill’s $40,000 limit on state and local tax deductions, a move House Republicans from high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey and California are fighting.

The Senate’s version of the tax bill calls for a $10,000 SALT cap, which leaders acknowledge is merely a placeholder figure as they try to hash out a compromise. There are no Senate Republicans from those high-tax states, and they’ve made no bones about the fact that it’s not a priority for them. 

Car loans

Senators want to restrict to new cars a House-passed provision allowing car buyers to deduct up to $10,000 a year in interest on their auto loans through 2028 for vehicles built in the U.S. Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer, pushed for the language.

Moreno had also sought to make the tax break permanent, but the draft keeps it a temporary benefit.

Electric vehicles

The Senate bill would eliminate a popular $7,500 credit for the purchase of electric vehicles 180 days after the bill becomes law, as opposed to expiring at the end of the year for most vehicles in the House version. That could be a difference of a few days, or longer, depending on the timing of the bill. 

Child tax credit

Both the House and Senate bills seek to boost the child tax credit but they do so in different ways. The Senate legislation would increase the maximum per-child credit from $2,000 to $2,200, making it permanent and adjust it for inflation in later years. 

The House bill would boost the tax break to $2,500, but it would decrease after 2028.

Tipped workers

The Senate bill contains new limits on Trump’s campaign promises to exempt tips and overtime from taxation. It caps the amount of tipped wages that can be exempt at $25,000 per individual and overtime at $12,500 per individual and $25,000 per couple. The breaks phase out above $150,000 in income for individuals and $300,000 for couples, and, like the House bill, they expire after 2028.

Seniors

The Senate bill expands a maximum $4,000 bonus standard deduction for seniors to $6,000 in an effort to better offset all Social Security taxes paid, a promise by Trump.

Medicaid cuts

The Senate bill makes more aggressive cuts to the Medicaid program for low-income and disabled people than the reductions in the House bill, favoring states like Texas and Florida that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. 

The Senate bill also would require parents with children 15 and older to work or do community service for 80 hours per month to qualify for health insurance through Medicaid. The House plan exempted all people with dependents from the work requirements. 

University endowment tax

The Senate bill significantly pares back the House’s plans to increase taxes on investment income generated by private university endowments. While the House proposed a levy as high as 21% on institutions with the largest endowments, the Senate version would cap the tax hike at 8%. 

The bill does not include a tax on private foundations found in the House bill.

Permanent business tax breaks

The panel also plans to permanently extend three business-friendly tax breaks that end after 2029 in the House version. Those provisions include the research and development deduction, the ability to use depreciation and amortization as the basis for interest expensing and 100% bonus depreciation of certain property, including most machinery and factories. 

Gun tax breaks

The Senate version would eliminate taxes and other regulations on many guns and silencers subject to the National Firearms Act of 1934 in a win for gun-rights advocates.

U.S. businesses and wealthy universities scored major wins in the Senate Republicans’ version of President Donald Trump’s tax bill, while low-income Americans and clean energy providers are poised to be hit the hardest.

The Senate bill has already sparked backlash from various GOP factions and several provisions threaten the fragile coalition that squeaked the legislation through the House by a single vote last month. 

The legislation could still be altered before it heads to the Senate floor, where Trump can afford to lose no more than three Republicans. 

Here’s who’s winning and losing at this stage in the tax fight.

Winners

Manufacturers, banks

The Senate would make permanent three business tax deductions that the House bill would sunset after 2029. The tax breaks include the ability to use depreciation and amortization as the basis for interest expensing, the research and development write-off and a 100% bonus depreciation of certain property, including most machinery and factories. Banks could see a surge in lending as companies have more cash freed up to invest in projects.

Wealthy U.S. colleges

Private universities that have endowments of at least $2 million per pupil would pay an excise tax of 8%, a significant decrease from the devastating 21% rate that was included in the House proposal. That’s still up from the current tax of 1.4% but it’s a more survivable outcome for universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and MIT. 

Chipmakers

The Senate bill calls for increasing an investment credit for semiconductor manufacturers to 30%. That’s up from the previous credit of 25%, giving chipmakers more incentive to spend on new facilities. Major beneficiaries of the tax credit have included Intel Corp., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Micron Technology Inc.  

An employee gives utensils to customers at a restaurant in New York

Tipped workers

The Senate bill makes good on one of Trump’s campaign promises of no taxes on tips and overtime — to a point. Senators would cap the amount of tipped wages that can be exempt at $25,000 per individual and overtime at $12,500 per individual and $25,000 per couple. Those deductions start to phase out $150,000 in income per person.

Foreign investors

Senators plan to delay and scale back a duty on investors in foreign countries with tax regimes that the U.S. deems unfair. The provision, informally called a revenge tax because it targets countries that impose digital services levies, would be delayed until 2027 for calendar-year filers. It then raises the levy by 5 percentage points each year until it hits a 15% cap. 

Health insurers

The Senate abandoned an endeavor to cut costs in the Medicare Advantage program. The move will allow lawmakers to avoid backlash from trimming the popular health insurance program that is largely relied upon by retired Americans. It’s also good news for managed care companies which benefit from the program: Humana Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Losers

Residents of high-tax states

Senators decided to put a placeholder state and local deduction cap of $10,000 in the draft bill, a drastic decrease from the $40,000 in the House-passed bill. The decision has already roiled House lawmakers from New York, New Jersey and California. Trump earlier told senators that he was open to lowering the SALT cap, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

Clean energy

Senators went along with House efforts to quickly phase out a Biden-era tax credit for wind and solar. The bill also would eventually end investment and production tax credits for other types of power, including hydropower and geothermal.

Electric vehicle makers

Electric vehicle makers, including Tesla Inc and General Motors Co., will be hurt by the end of a consumer tax credit of as much as $7,500 for the purchase of electric cars. Tax credits for commercial and used electric vehicles will also be eliminated.

Low-income Americans

Federal funding for Medicaid would be cut in the Senate bill, shrinking the program that provides health-care to over 70 million Americans, including the financially vulnerable and those with disabilities. The cuts are more aggressive than the proposals in the House version of the bill, as part of lawmakers’ efforts to find ways to pay for the package. 

Pass-through businesses

Owners or closely-held businesses, including partnerships and limited liability companies, had a widely-used deduction scaled back in the Senate version of the bill. The House draft called to increase a write-off for business income to 23% from the current 20%. The Senate plan just calls to preserve the 20% rate in the tax code. Advocates for the break say a bigger deduction is necessary to create parity between privately held businesses, which pay a top rate of 37%, and the 21% corporate rate.

Deficit hawks

The bill raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, an increase from $4 trillion in the House version. 

SNAP recipients

After mulling a scaleback of cuts to federal food aid for the poor, the Senate version makes cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a way to help pay for the expensive spending package. The changes require state governments to cover more of the cost of federal food stamps received by their residents.