Seven years ago, the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gave hardworking Americans and the businesses that employ them well-deserved relief, clearing a path for innovation, investment, and economic growth.
However, several key provisions of the TCJA will expire unless Congress extends them before the end of next year. Since the TCJA provided taxpayers with concrete wins that improved their lives, lawmakers should keep those benefits at the forefront while shaping tax reform in 2025.
The most impressive and indisputable result of the TCJA was that it simplified the tax code. National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s annual tax complexity study found the TCJA slashed millions of hours people collectively spent filing their taxes. By increasing the standard deduction, eliminating the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, and repealing the alternative minimum tax, tax reform saved time and frustration for taxpayers.
Opening your wallet to Uncle Sam shouldn’t be a time burden as well as a financial one. Thankfully, tax reform reduced the headache, saving millions in out-of-pocket filing expenses.
Taxpayers also benefited from the TCJA’s cuts to personal income tax rates, especially during our nation’s worst inflation spike in decades following the COVID-19 outbreak. While post-pandemic policies led by the Biden administration and congressional Democrats made the inflation crisis worse, tax reform eased the hit. Despite misleading narratives, that tax cut was broad-based: An astounding 80% of people received a tax cut from the TCJA. Lawmakers can’t predict events such as the pandemic, so it’s good practice to leave more money in people’s pockets for a rainy day.
It’s also worth reflecting on ways the TCJA supercharged the economy before the pandemic. In 2019, unemployment was at its lowest level in 50 years. It was an economy that worked for everyone, as shown by record-low unemployment rates for black and Hispanic Americans in the fourth quarter of that year. Wages were also rising at the fastest pace since the end of the 2008 recession, with workers in the lowest income groups absorbing most of the gains. The outcome was the exact opposite of the “Robin Hood in reverse” tale Democrats predicted. Anyone concerned about “tax fairness” should take note the TCJA provides significant relief to low-income households.
It shouldn’t be surprising that skyrocketing jobs and new prosperity would lead to more government revenue, and that’s exactly what happened. Since the TCJA’s enactment, government revenues have been higher than predicted before tax reform, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In fact, corporate tax revenue reached record levels after tax reform. Individual income tax revenue has also risen despite lower tax rates, and thanks to the TCJA making the tax code more progressive, much of this is paid by the wealthiest Americans. The TCJA hasn’t paid for itself, but neither has it resulted in the fiscal catastrophe prophesied by its opponents.
Finally, tax reform stopped businesses from leaving the country. Prior to TCJA, our tax code was not competitive. We had one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, causing businesses to flee to other countries. This practice, known as “corporate inversion,” ended entirely as a direct result of tax reform. Reducing the corporate rate and changing international tax rules incentivized companies to stay in the United States instead of moving their headquarters overseas.
People gained far more from an across-the-board tax cut than they would have under any targeted spending program or paternalistic regulatory environment. Yet, as quickly as these benefits arose, they could also disappear. Some of the most important elements of the 2017 tax law are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
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Republicans kept their promise to usher in growth and opportunity. Now, voters have chosen to put them back in control of Congress and the White House, paving the way for a new wave of tax relief after a tumultuous period of out-of-control taxes and spending.
In celebration of TCJA’s seventh anniversary, lawmakers should commit to renewing the tax cuts. The sooner tax reform is law, the sooner economic uncertainty disappears, and investment and innovation can begin to usher in a new era of prosperity for all.
Debbie Jennings is the policy manager for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
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Publish date : 2024-12-21 22:01:00
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