Thune: Senate Republicans Secure Permanent Tax Relief for Hardworking Americans
“The tax provisions in our bill - from the permanent extension of the lower tax rates to the increased child tax credit to the permanent tax relief for small and medium-sized businesses - will help bring security to American families and prosperity to our country.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Mr. President, on Monday afternoon the Senate Finance Committee released the text of the centerpiece of our reconciliation bill – making the tax relief we passed in 2017 permanent.
“The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced tax rates for every income bracket, doubled the child tax credit, and nearly doubled the standard deduction.
“And that, of course, meant more money in Americans’ pockets.
“But those lower tax rates – and the larger standard deduction and the child tax credit – are set to expire at the end of this year.
“And if we don’t take action, American families will be facing a massive tax hike starting in 2026.
“Americans making less than $400,000 a year would face a $2.6 trillion tax hike.
“A typical family of four making $80,000 a year would need to send an additional $1,700 to Uncle Sam.
“$1,700, Mr. President.
“Republicans promised the American people that we wouldn’t let that happen.
“And with the release of the Finance Committee’s text, we are one step closer to delivering on that promise.
“Our bill will extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s lower tax rates.
“It will extend the doubled child tax credit.
“It will extend the nearly doubled standard deduction.
“But not just extend them, Mr. President.
“Make them permanent.
“Extending the lower tax rates or the standard deduction was never going to be enough for Republicans.
“We are making the lower tax rates, and the doubled child tax credit, and the increased standard deduction permanent, so that American families do not have to worry about another looming tax hike a few years down the road.
“And we’re actually going even further, by increasing the child tax credit by another $200 – again, on a permanent basis.
“And, Mr. President, that’s not all we’re doing.
“We’re also going to make life better for the American people by growing our economy.
“In addition to cutting tax rates for hardworking Americans, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also implemented a historic reform of the business side of the tax code.
“We lowered tax rates for owners of small and medium-sized businesses, farms, and ranches and made it easier for them to recover the cost of investing in their businesses – which in turn freed up cash for them to invest in their operations and their workers.
“We lowered our nation’s massive corporate tax rate – which prior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world – to make American businesses more competitive in the global economy and empower them to invest in wages and benefits for their workers.
“And we brought our international tax system into the 21st century so that American businesses would no longer be operating at a disadvantage next to their foreign counterparts.
“And, Mr. President, it worked.
“In the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our economy grew at a substantially better rate than projected.
“Real wages increased.
“Unemployment fell to a 50-year low.
“The poverty rate fell to the lowest level ever recorded.
“Business investment increased.
“Everywhere you looked there was positive economic news.
“Now, Mr. President, when we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we were able to make some of that business tax relief permanent.
“But like the individual tax relief, other provisions have either already expired, are expiring at the end of this year, or are in the process of phasing out.
“That includes lower tax rates for small and medium-sized businesses, the Section 199A small business tax deduction, and full expensing for new capital investment and domestic research and development.
“Our legislation will permanently extend these key provisions.
“And between these and other new pro-growth policies – like a provision to boost domestic manufacturing by implementing full expensing for new factories and factory improvements – we can expect to see further economic growth and more jobs and opportunities for American workers.
“The Council of Economic Advisers – which accurately predicted the economic and wage growth that we achieved in the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – is forecasting 2.9 percent to 3.5 percent long-run GDP as a result of our legislation.
“And, Mr. President, that means more jobs, better wages (as much as a $13,327 increase for a typical family), and more opportunities for American workers.
“It also means more revenue for the federal government – but revenue created the right way, through economic growth, not through higher taxes.
“And I should mention that yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released a new H.R. 1 analysis, which characteristically … underestimates the economic growth – and hence the revenue – that this bill will provide.
“CBO – the Congressional Budget Office – did the same thing with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, when it estimated revenues would be $1.5 trillion lower than what they’ve actually been.
“The Council of Economic Advisers, by contrast – which was most accurate in its modeling of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s effects … including … its effect on revenue – tells us that passage of our legislation will increase federal revenues by $4.1 trillion: more than enough to offset the CBO’s deficit estimate.
“Mr. President, in addition to promising to make the 2017 tax relief permanent, President Trump outlined multiple other tax proposals on the campaign trail – proposals which were endorsed by the American people with his strong win in November.
“And with this bill, we are delivering on those promises.
“We’re suspending taxes on tips for millions of tipped workers.
“We’re suspending taxes on overtime for millions of hourly workers.
“We are suspending taxes on auto loan interest when you buy a new car manufactured in the United States.
“And we’re increasing the standard deduction for millions of low- and middle-income seniors, making their retirement a little easier and more prosperous.
“We’re also implementing a program to create savings accounts for newborns with an initial deposit of $1,000 to help parents save and invest for their children’s future needs.
“Mr. President, everything we’re doing in this bill is for the sake of making America stronger and more prosperous.
“And nowhere is that more true than when it comes to the tax portion – the centerpiece – of our bill.
“The tax provisions in our bill – from the permanent extension of the lower tax rates to the increased child tax credit to the permanent tax relief for small and medium-sized businesses – will help bring security to American families and prosperity to our country.
“Working Americans – working Americans, Mr. President – are going to have a better life because of this legislation.
“And I’m proud to be a part of permanently extending – and upgrading – the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“With that, I want to thank Chairman Crapo and his members on the Senate Finance Committee for their incredible work on the tax portion of our upcoming bill.
“And I look forward, Mr. President, to delivering permanent tax relief for hardworking Americans – and American businesses – in the very near future.”
Related Issues: Budget, Taxes
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