Today, the House passed the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) with my support. It now sits on the President's desk to be signed into law before the end of the year.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act benefits individuals and families by:
- Lowering individual taxes and expanding tax brackets;
- Expanding the Child Tax Credit;
- Eliminating the Obamacare individual mandate penalty tax so that families can make the health insurance decisions that are best for them;
- Retaining retirement savings options like 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts;
- Continuing to allow people to write off the cost of state and local taxes up to $10,000;
- Expanding the medical expense deduction, among other measures to make the tax code simpler and fairer.
I also believe there has been a lot of false information on this tax relief package.For your reference, I have included some Wisconsin-specific numbers under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
- The average married couple with one child making $35,000/year will save $855 in WI
- The average single parent with two children making $50,000/year will save $1,812 in WI
- The average married couple with one child making $55,000/year will save $1,141 in WI
- The average married couple with two children making $85,000/year will save $2,418 in WI
- The average married couple with two children making $175,000/year will save $4,411 in WI*
Click here to see what the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does for you!
I feel the tax cuts in this version of the bill are targeted at the working middle class – a change from original proposals – and I feel like my voice was heard in making these changes. I’m especially happy that House and Senate leaders reinstated the medical expense deduction, a deduction used by folks in the most dire of circumstances.
The bill also shifted from a bill that benefited investors to one that more targets working people. The changes in the conference bill regarding state and local taxes will be of particular benefit to Wisconsin taxpayers, and virtually all taxpayers who make less than $150,000 should receive a tax cut.
Above all, the goal of tax reform is to improve the economy by lowering business taxes to stimulate spending and job creation and modernizing our country’s international tax system. Everyone should remember that personal retirement accounts and pensions will also benefit from the passing of this bill – as we have already seen in the historic gains of the stock market over the past year in anticipation of passage.
It’s also especially frustrating that Democrats are critical of lowering the corporate tax rate considering President Obama asked Congress to do just that in 2012, even including a preferential rate for manufacturing. Our current corporate tax rate is the highest in the industrialized world at 35 percent. By lowering it to 21 percent, we make the U.S. more competitive for business.
The final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed the House on December 20, 2017, by a vote of 224-201.
For a detailed summary of what’s included in the bill, please click here. To read the text of the bill in its entirety, please click here.
*Property tax and itemized deductions based on WI average
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