This Week in Congress Part One: Raising Taxes

Congress is in session Monday through whenever they pass the end-of-Year spending bill. Today the House is voting on the tax bill, which the Senate is expected to pass tomorrow. While far from perfect, the bill does represent a good step forward and Campaign for Liberty is supporting the bill.

Here and below are the highlights of the bill:

POLICY HIGHLIGHTS

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) overhauls America’s tax code to deliver historic tax relief for workers, families and job creators, and revitalize our nation’s economy. By lowering taxes across the board, eliminating costly special-interest tax breaks, and modernizing our international tax system, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will help create more jobs, increase paychecks, and make the tax code simpler and fairer for Americans of all walks of life.

With this bill, the typical family of four earning the median family income of $73,000 will receive a tax cut of $2,059. For individuals and families, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Lowers individual taxes and sets the rates at 0%, 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% so people can keep more of their hard-earned money.

• Significantly increases the standard deduction to protect roughly double the amount of what you earn each year from taxes – from $6,500 and $13,000 under current law to $12,000 and $24,000 for individuals and married couples, respectively.

• Continues to allow people to write off the cost of state and local taxes – up to $10,000. Gives individuals and families the ability to deduct property taxes and income – or sales – taxes depending on their unique circumstances.

• Takes action to support more American families by:

• Expanding the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000 for single parents and married couples to help parents with the cost of raising children. The tax credit is fully refundable up to $1,400 and begins to phase-out for families making over $400,000. Parents must provide a child’s valid Social Security Number in order to receive this credit.

• Preserving the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to help families care for their children and older dependents such as a disabled grandparent who may need additional support.

• Preserving the Adoption Tax Credit so parents can continue to receive additional tax relief as they open their hearts and homes to an adopted child.

• Preserves the mortgage interest deduction – providing tax relief to current and aspiring homeowners.

• For all homeowners with existing mortgages that were taken out to buy a home, there will be no change to the current mortgage interest deduction.

• For homeowners with new mortgages on a first or second home, the home mortgage interest deduction will be available up to $750,000.

• Provides relief for Americans with expensive medical bills by expanding the medical expense deduction for 2017 and 2018 for medical expenses exceeding 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income, and rising to 10 percent beginning in 2019.

• Continues and expands the deduction for charitable contributions so people can continue to donate to their local church, charity, or community organization.

• Eliminates Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty tax – providing families with much-needed relief and flexibility to buy the health care that’s right for them if they choose.

• Maintains the Earned Income Tax Credit to provide important tax relief for low-income Americans working to build better lives for themselves.

• Improves savings vehicles for education by allowing families to use 529 accounts to save for elementary, secondary and higher education.

• Provides support for graduate students by continuing to exempt the value of reduced tuition from taxes.

• Retains popular retirement savings options such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) so Americans can continue to save for their future.

• Increases the exemption amount from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) to reduce the complexity and tax burden for millions of Americans.

• Provides immediate relief from the Death Tax by doubling the amount of the current exemption to reduce uncertainty and costs for many family-owned farms and businesses when they pass down their life’s work to the next generation.

For job creators of all sizes, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Lowers the corporate tax rate to 21% (beginning Jan. 1, 2018) – down from 35%, which today is the highest in the industrialized world – the largest reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate in our nation’s history.

• Delivers significant tax relief to Main Street job creators by:

• Offering a best-ever 20% tax deduction that applies to the first $315,000 of joint income earned by all businesses organized as corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships. For Main Street job creators with income above this level, the bill generally provides a deduction for up to 20% on business profits – reducing their effective marginal tax rate to no more than 29.6%.

• Establishing strong safeguards so that wage income does not receive the lower marginal effective tax rates on business income – helping to ensure that Main Street tax relief goes to the local job creators it was designed to help most.

• Allows businesses to immediately write off the full cost of new equipment to improve operations and enhance the skills of their workers – unleashing growth of jobs, productivity, and paychecks.

• Protects the ability of small businesses to write off interest on loans, helping these Main Street entrepreneurs start or expand a business, hire workers, and increase paychecks.

• Preserves important elements of the existing business tax system, including:

• Retaining the low-income housing tax credit that encourages businesses to invest in affordable housing so families, individuals, and seniors can find a safe and comfortable place to call home.

• Preserving the Research & Development Tax Credit that encourages our businesses and workers to develop cutting-edge “Made in America” products and services.

• Retaining the tax-preferred status of private-activity bonds that are used to finance valuable infrastructure projects.

• Eliminates the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, thereby lowering taxes and eliminating confusion and uncertainty so American job creators can focus on growing their business and hiring more workers, rather than on burdensome paperwork.

• Modernizes our international tax system so America’s global businesses will no longer be held back by an outdated “worldwide” tax system that results in double taxation for many of our nation’s job creators.

• Makes it easier for American businesses to bring home foreign earnings to invest in growing jobs and paychecks in our local communities.

• Prevents American jobs, headquarters, and research from moving overseas by eliminating incentives that now reward companies for shifting jobs, projects, and manufacturing plants abroad.

For greater American energy security and economic growth, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Establishes an environmentally responsible oil and gas program in the non-wilderness 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Congress specifically set aside the 1.57-million acre 1002 Area for potential future development. Two lease sales will be held over the next decade and surface development will be limited to 2,000 federal acres – just one ten-thousandth of all of ANWR.

• Significantly boosts American energy production. Responsible development in the 1002 Area will raise tens of billions of dollars for deficit reduction in the decades to come, while creating thousands of new jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and helping to keep energy affordable for American families and businesses.

• Provides a temporary increase in offshore revenue sharing for the Gulf Coast in 2020 and 2021, allowing those states to invest in priorities such as coastal restoration and hurricane protection.

Here is s letter in support of the tax bill co-signed by Campaign for Liberty:

Members of Congress:

On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our millions of members from across the country, we write in support of the Conference Report to H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). With passage of this historic legislation, Congress will finally deliver on the promise of fundamental tax reform. TCJA will encourage economic growth, simplify the tax code, and provide American families and individuals with much-needed tax relief.

On the individual side of the code, it will provide immediate financial benefits to American households by cutting rates across the board, doubling the standard deduction, and expanding the child tax credit. It will simplify the tax code so that more than 90 percent of filers will be able to avoid the complicated and burdensome process of itemization.

For businesses, the TCJA drops the corporate rate from 35 percent to a far more competitive 21 percent, which is below the average for industrialized nations. Corporations and small businesses alike would see lower rates and reduced burdens. It also creates a modern, territorial system of taxation that ends the competitive disadvantage that U.S. businesses face internationally. These changes will encourage more entrepreneurship, increase wages, create jobs, and lead to more investment in the domestic economy.

With these changes and more, lawmakers are casting a vision for the future of this country; one that empowers individuals, families and businesses to invest and succeed in the American dream.

The Conference Report to H.R. 1 is a pro-growth, pro-family, and pro-worker legislative proposal. We encourage all Members of Congress to support its passage.

Sincerely,

Pete Sepp National Taxpayers Union James L. Martin 60 Plus Association Lisa B. Nelson ALEC Action Corry Bliss American Action Network Phil Kerpen American Commitment Daniel Schneider American Conservative Union Tom Giovanetti Americans for a Strong Economy Grover Norquist Americans for Tax Reform Dan Weber Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) Norm Singleton Campaign for Liberty Andrew F. Quinlan Center for Freedom and Prosperity Jeffrey Mazzella Center for Individual Freedom Olivia Grady Center for Worker Freedom David McIntosh Club for Growth Matthew Kandrach Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE) Tom Schatz Council for Citizens Against Government Waste Katie McAuliffe Digital Liberty Timothy Head Faith & Freedom Coalition

Alex Ayers Family Business Coalition Annette Meeks Freedom Foundation of Minnesota Jason Pye FreedomWorks Michael A. Needham Heritage Action for America Mario Lopez Hispanic Leadership Fund Heather R. Higgins Independent Women’s Voice Tom Giovanetti Institute for a Policy Innovation Thomas W. Carroll Invest in Education Coalition J. Robert McClure The James Madison Institute Brett Healy The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy Michael Steel Middle Class Growth Initiative Jerry Taylor Niskanen Center Lorenzo Montanari Property Rights Alliance Paul Gessing Rio Grande Foundation Karen Kerrigan Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council David Williams Taxpayers Protection Alliance Jenny Beth Martin Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Amy Kremer Women for Trump