Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), and other members of Congress announced the introduction of House Resolution 1, officially titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
H.R. 1, proposed on November 2, includes elements of the Unified Tax Reform Framework, a memorandum drafted by Congressional leaders and President Donald Trump in late September.
H.R. 1 includes elements of the Framework such as reducing the number of personal income tax brackets from seven to four, relieving Americans’ tax burdens by about $1.51 trillion over the next ten years, and capping business taxes on pass-through entities, a kind of business in which the owners share the business’s income and pay personal income taxes on those proceeds. .
Helping American Families
Alexander Hendrie, director of federal tax policy at Americans for Tax Reform, says a bill following the Framework’s proposals will help American families.
“First, there are tax implications for families,” Hendrie said. “There will be a doubling of the standard deduction. The current standard deduction of $12,000, tax-free, will now be $24,000. There will be an increased child tax credit. A lot of deductions will go away, as a result, but it will make it easier to file.”
All Aboard the Reform Train
Lew Uhler, founder and president of the National Tax Limitation Committee, says everyone’s on board with tax reform.
“I have not observed this level of unanimity on an issue area as I have this one,” Uhler said. “These guys are singing off the same sheet, and Trump chose the right people—like Larry Kudlow, Steve Forbes, Art Laffer, etc.”
Any bill containing the Framework’s proposals will supercharge the American economic engine, Uhler says.
“It’s my judgment that the elements of this package probably will induce a rate of economic growth better than that enjoyed following either those of Reagan or Kennedy,” Uhler said.
