July 24, 2018
Dear Speaker Ryan and Chairman Brady:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we urge the House of Representatives to take action to make all of the individual tax provisions from H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent.
The TCJA has turbocharged the economy, leading to the creation of new jobs and increased take-home pay for 90 percent of wage earners.
However, many important provisions in this bill could not be made permanent because of liberal obstructionism and arcane Senate rules. Due to these constraints, Republican lawmakers were forced to sunset the individual tax provisions starting in 2026.
We urge you and your colleagues in the House to work with President Trump to make these provisions permanent so that the many benefits of the TCJA last.
Because of the TCJA, this year a family of four with annual income of $73,000 will see a tax cut of more than $2,058, a 58 percent reduction in federal taxes. Similarly, a single parent with one child with annual income of $41,000 will see a tax cut of $1,304 -- a 73 percent reduction in federal taxes.
The TCJA also dramatically simplified the tax code for families and individuals. For instance, the standard deduction was doubled so that an estimated 93 percent of taxpayers can now file on a single page.
Tax reform also raised the threshold at which the alternative minimum tax hits taxpayers, offering relief for 4.3 million Americans who will no longer be forced to calculate their taxes twice and pay the AMT.
The threshold at which the death tax hits was doubled providing welcome relief for family businesses and the House should move quickly to provide permanence in this area. House leadership should consider the political and economic benefits of making President Trump's position of full repeal permanent law. Permanent death tax repeal has unanimous support among House Republicans and was passed in the House's first version of TCJA. Seven House Democrats including current lead sponsor Sanford Bishop (D-GA) joined Republicans to help pass Congressman Brady's Death Tax Repeal Act in April of 2015.
Tax reform further offered relief and simplicity to more than 22 million families who take the Child Tax Credit by doubling this provision and consolidating other family provisions.
The individual tax title of the TCJA even implemented tax reduction for 28 million small businesses through the creation of a 20 percent deduction on pass-through income, expanded 179 expensing, and other changes to encourage more investment in small firms and new business creation generally.
The TCJA has also offered relief from Obamacare by repealing the individual mandate tax penalty. More than 6.6 million individuals and families paid the individual mandate tax penalties in 2015. This tax penalty is also one of the most regressive taxes in the code – nearly 80 percent of taxpayers impacted by the mandate made less than $50,000 in annual income.
Since it was signed into law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has increased take-home pay, simplified the tax code, and grown the economy. The House of Representatives should build on the success of this law by taking action to make individual tax provisions from H.R. 1 permanent.
Sincerely,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
James L. Martin
Founder and Chairman, 60 Plus Association
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President, 60 Plus Association
Phil Kerpen
President, American Commitment
Steve Pociask
President, American Consumer Institute
Dan Weber
President, Association of Mature American Citizens
Lisa B. Nelson
CEO, ALEC Action
Andrew F. Quinlan
President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Jeffrey L. Mazzella
President, Center for Individual Freedom
Mary Adams
Chair, Maine Center-Right Coalition Meeting
Olivia Grady
Senior Fellow, Center for Worker Freedom
Chip Faulkner
Executive Director, Citizens for Limited Taxation (MA)
Chuck Muth
President, Citizen Outreach
David McIntosh
President, Club for Growth
Matthew Kandrach
President, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Penny Morrell
State Director, CWA of Maine
Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty
Palmer Schoening
Chairman, Family Business Coalition
Richard Watson
Co-Chair, Florida Center Right Coalition
Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks
Daniel Perrin
Executive Director, HSA Coalition
Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Heartland Institute
Mario H. Lopez
President, Hispanic Leadership Fund
Carrie Lukas
President, Independent Women’s Forum
Heather R. Higgins
CEO, Independent Women’s Voice
Tom Giovanetti
President, Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI)
Dave Trabert
President, Kansas Policy Institute
Lance Hines
Little Rock City Director Ward 5, Priority 1
Paula G. Sutton
State Representative, Maine House of Representatives
Jameson Taylor, Ph.D.
Vice President for Policy, Mississippi Center for Public Policy
Tim Jones
Former Speaker, Missouri House of Representatives
Leader, Missouri Center-Right Coalition
Pete Sepp
President, National Taxpayers Union
Stephen Stepanek
Co-Chair, New Hampshire Center-Right Coalition
William O'Brien
Co-Chair, New Hampshire Center Right Coalition
Niraj J. Antani
Ohio State Representative
Jeff Kropf
Executive Director, Oregon Capitol Watch
Grant Maloy
Chair, Orlando Center-Right Coalition
Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance
June Matheny
Secretary, Pulaski County Republican Women
Mike Stenhouse
CEO, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Karen Kerrigan
President, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
David Williams
President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips
President, Tea Party Nation
Jenny Beth Martin
Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund
Edwin Tripp
Senior Political Reporter, The Boston Broadside
Mike Thompson
President, Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy