The chairman of the House of Representatives’ powerful tax writing committee says the tax reform blueprint laid out by President Trump last week is “exciting” and predicts enactment will lead to stronger businesses and more financially secure families.
Trump’s economic team laid out the administration’s principles on Wednesday, including a call for the corporate tax rate to drop from almost 40 percent down to 15 percent, a doubling of the standard individual deduction, and creating just three tax brackets instead of seven.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, loves that Trump is going bold on tax reform.
“This is very exciting,” said Brady. “Americans saw something they haven’t seen in 30 years, which is a president willing to lead on tax reform and committed to working with the House and Senate. We want to get this done this year.”
“We only get one chance in a generation to do this, and like Reagan, we have to go bold to do it,” said Brady.
But Brady is not in a tremendous rush. He says the process needs to play out in the weeks ahead.
“Beginning [this] week, we’re going to roll up our sleeves, sitting down with President Trump’s team and the Senate as well to put together a single tax reform plan that’s going to take place over the coming weeks,” said Brady.
While partisans and the media are focused heavily on the pace of legislative action in the early stages of the Trump administration, Brady says getting it right in a timely fashion is most important.
“I think a lot of press in Washington are focused on which month this happens. My focus is on the year and that means this year, 2017. After 30 years of this broken, complicated tax code, it seems like exactly the right time to deliver,” said Brady.
Brady says the Trump blueprint would be a boon for businesses and families. He says dropping the corporate tax rate to 15 percent would make a monumental difference in America’s business climate. He says the small business owners will be smiling too.
“For small business owners, we propose to cut your taxes by more than 40 percent. That’s so you can send less to Washington. you can invest more in your business, your workers, your success. We provide full, unlimited write-offs of all your investment and building’s equipment, software and technology,” said Brady.
He says other provisions should ease the burdens of small business owners as well.
“We eliminate the death tax, so family-owned businesses no longer have to worry about Uncle Sam swooping in and taking nearly half of what you’ve earned over a lifetime. Then we eliminate some of the double taxation. For small businesses, this is game-changing, since this will grow the economy by more than nine percent” said Brady.
Where the tax bill could run into friction is over a proposed border adjustability tax, which would add a tax on imported goods. While critics say American consumers would end up paying for it in higher prices, Brady says it needs to happen, in part because everyone else except North Korea and Cuba does it.
“They take a major tax off their products heading into America. They slap a tax on their made in America products when it goes in their country,” said Brady.
“A foreign product has a major tax advantage over a made in America product, both here and abroad. So we’re saying for the first time that every product pays an equal tax. So no longer is Chinese steel getting a break over American steel, Mexican beef over American beef, Canadian autos over American autos,” said Brady.
He also says the more level playing field will likely entice many companies that left the U.S. and others that never were here to set up shop in America, adding to even more job creation.
As for families, Brady says the typical family of four will like the bigger paychecks coming home.
“You’re going to keep more of the money that you earn. The tax code is going to be dramatically simpler. If you save for retirement, education or health care, we cut your taxes in half again because we want to reward those types of savings,” said Brady.
“The bottom line is the House Republican blueprint, the idea we’re bringing to the president, is a code so fair and simple, nine out of ten Americans will be able to file using a simple postcard system,” said Brady.
