Reforming our tax code has been a priority of mine throughout my service as your Senator and has been decades in the making. In December 2017, Congress seized the opportunity to pass meaningful tax reform known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The reforms passed by Congress will produce growth not seen in generations with Idahoans in every income group seeing a reduction in their tax burdens. The largest percentage reductions benefit those in lower and middle-income tax categories. Additionally, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces the tax burden on individuals and families, strengthens America’s economy, helps us build ourselves out of our fiscal crisis, and will give Idahoans access to stronger wages and stronger job growth.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a typical family of four will get a $2,059 tax cut. Lower-middle and middle income families can save time and money on tax preparation due to the near doubling of the standard deduction and other simplifications. According to more than 100 economists, “economic growth will accelerate” under the tax relief legislation passed by Congress, which will give Americans access to higher wages, greater job opportunities and a more vibrant economy.
If Congress had not acted to reform out outdated tax system, the Congressional Budget Office projected that our economy would struggle along at just 1.9 percent annual growth for the next decade, well below our historic average. This stagnates wages and wealth creation and is simply unacceptable. If we want to balance our budget, provide the necessary resources for our national defense and protect our safety net programs from looming insolvency, we need an economy growing at more than that measly rate. Our old tax code was unfair, complex, expensive to comply with, and anti-competitive to our own business interests. The tax relief passed by Congress will reshape our tax policy to the benefit of Idaho’s taxpayers help make the United States more competitive.
Americans in every income group will see significant reductions, not increases, in their tax burden, with those in lower-middle and middle-income categories seeing the greatest percentage reduction, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official revenue scorekeeper for Congress. Lower income earners will continue to pay zero percent and those with children will see a larger tax credit of $1,400 per child. The Tax Foundation also analyzed the effects of tax reform on various model families with different incomes and found “a reduction in tax liability for every scenario we modeled, with some of the largest cuts accruing to moderate-income families with children.”
The National Taxpayers Union finds tax reform will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. The Tax Foundation estimates 1.5 percent higher wages and 339,000 new jobs. In a survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, almost 54 percent of small and large manufacturers said they would hire more workers, and nearly half said they would increase employee wages and benefits as a result of tax reform.
Despite claims to the contrary, the reforms to our tax system will address our growing debt and deficits thanks to how the policy affects jobs, wages and investments when estimating revenue. The U.S. Department of the Treasury estimates that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in place, revenues will increase by $1.8 trillion over ten years with only an annual 2.9 percent economic growth rate; the rate of economic growth can and will be higher than that estimate. With an economic growth rate of 2.4 percent, the legislation signed by the president will be revenue neutral.
American businesses are taxed at the highest rate in the industrialized world. This has resulted in 4,700 companies leaving the U.S. in the past 13 years, according to the Business Roundtable. The tax relief legislation reverses that trend, creating a more competitive tax code that better enables capital formation resulting in new companies being formed, staying here and expanding job opportunities. The Council of Economic Advisers reports significantly reducing the tax burden on American businesses would increase average household income in the U.S. by, “very conservatively $4,000 annually.”
May 16, 2023
May 09, 2023
March 16, 2023
February 09, 2023
August 07, 2022
August 01, 2022
June 22, 2022
December 15, 2021
December 07, 2021
December 18, 2019
March 23, 2018
December 19, 2017
December 02, 2017
November 16, 2017
November 13, 2017
June 22, 2015
June 17, 2015
March 25, 2015
May 23, 2014
September 26, 2013
August 07, 2013
May 30, 2013
September 04, 2012
June 28, 2012
June 21, 2012
May 16, 2012
April 04, 2012
November 28, 2011
August 09, 2011
August 05, 2011
August 02, 2011
May 17, 2011
April 14, 2011
April 07, 2011
March 31, 2011
March 09, 2011
March 08, 2011
December 14, 2010
December 09, 2010
December 02, 2010
December 01, 2010
November 10, 2010
October 27, 2010
October 15, 2010
September 24, 2010
September 16, 2010
September 15, 2010
September 14, 2010
August 26, 2010
August 06, 2010
August 05, 2010
July 29, 2010
July 14, 2010
June 22, 2010
June 11, 2010
May 13, 2010
May 04, 2010
April 27, 2010
April 22, 2010
March 25, 2010
March 24, 2010
March 23, 2010
March 17, 2010
February 25, 2010
February 01, 2010
January 21, 2010
December 24, 2009
December 15, 2009
December 10, 2009
December 09, 2009
November 20, 2009
November 05, 2009
October 13, 2009
October 07, 2009
October 06, 2009
October 01, 2009
September 24, 2009
September 23, 2009
July 09, 2009
June 24, 2009
May 28, 2009
May 22, 2009
May 20, 2009
April 15, 2009
March 27, 2009
March 26, 2009
March 18, 2009
March 18, 2009
March 12, 2009
March 10, 2009
February 26, 2009
February 26, 2009
February 10, 2009
January 27, 2009
January 21, 2009
January 15, 2009
November 04, 2008
October 23, 2008
September 25, 2008
September 25, 2008
September 23, 2008
September 17, 2008
June 24, 2008
June 18, 2008
June 04, 2008
May 23, 2008
April 29, 2008
April 17, 2008
April 03, 2008
March 24, 2008
March 05, 2008
February 04, 2008
January 28, 2008
December 13, 2007
December 13, 2007
December 11, 2007
December 10, 2007
December 07, 2007
November 16, 2007
November 07, 2007
November 07, 2007
October 17, 2007
October 05, 2007
October 02, 2007
August 03, 2007
June 27, 2007
June 19, 2007
June 14, 2007
June 05, 2007
May 22, 2007
May 15, 2007
May 09, 2007
April 26, 2007
April 17, 2007
February 28, 2007
February 06, 2007
January 23, 2007
January 09, 2007
December 14, 2006
October 02, 2006
September 27, 2006
August 02, 2006
May 25, 2006
May 17, 2006
May 05, 2006
February 02, 2006
November 16, 2005
November 01, 2005
October 21, 2005
October 07, 2005
October 07, 2005
September 21, 2005
July 27, 2005
June 28, 2005
June 23, 2005
April 27, 2005
March 16, 2005
March 11, 2005
March 08, 2005
March 08, 2005
March 08, 2005
March 07, 2005
February 23, 2005
February 23, 2005
February 23, 2005
February 23, 2005
February 22, 2005
February 22, 2005
February 11, 2005
February 11, 2005
February 11, 2005