Elon Musk’s out-of-office rant on Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’: What is the tax plan?

The world's richest man and former DOGE head, Elon Musk, recently called out US President Donald Trump's ‘big beautiful bill’, asserting that it would raise the budget deficit to $2.5 trillion.

Asking senators to ‘kill the bill,’ Musk claimed, saying that “this immense level of overspending will drive America into debt slavery!”

What is Trump's big beautiful bill'?

The ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the House, which aims to extend tax cuts initiated during Trump's first term in 2017, including $46.5 billion for the construction of barriers at the US-Mexico border.

It is estimated to increase the budget deficit by nearly $600bn in the next fiscal year, according to a report by BBC.

What does Trump's big beautiful bill consist of?

Increase debt ceiling

The ‘big beautiful bill’ proposed to raise the debt ceiling to $ 4 trillion. The debt ceiling refers to the maximum amount of money that the government is allowed to borrow in order to settle its bills. This would allow the government to increase the debt limit to pay for programmes approved by Congress.

Medicaid rules

Medicaid, a state-backed health care programme, will have additional restrictions and requirements as per the new bill.

One such condition was new work requirements for childless adults without disabilities. From December 2026 onwards, such adults will be required to work at least 80 hours per month.

SALT tax cap

The new bill raises the deduction limit for state and local taxes (SALT). The current cap is $10,000, the amount taxpayers can deduct from what they owe in federal taxes. The ‘big beautiful bill’ increases the Salt limit to $40,000 for married couples with incomes up to $500,000.

SNAP reforms

The benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the government initiative utilised by more than 40 million low-income Americans, have been revised as well.

As per the new bill, states will contribute more to SNAP, a programme partially funded by the federal government.

The new bill requires states to contribute more to the programme, which is also partially funded by the federal government.

Interest on car loans

The ‘big beautiful bill’ will permit Americans to deduct interest on loans for vehicles manufactured in the US only.

Child tax credit

The child tax credit is expected to be raised to $2,500 from $2,000 by 2028, only for Americans with Social Security numbers.

No tax on overtime or tips

The bill promises to end taxes on tips and overtime pay, the poll promises made during 2024 Presidential campaign by Donald Trump

Concerns with ‘big beautiful bill’

The ‘big beautiful bill’ is expected to add $2.4 trillion to US budget deficits over a period of ten years, according to an estimate released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday.

As the estimates, there will be $3.67 trillion decrease in expected revenues and a $1.25 trillion decline in spending over till 2034, referring to baseline projections. The score does not consider any potential economic boost from the bill that might counterbalance some revenue losses.