John Thune on Making 2017 Tax Cuts Permanent for American Families

Permanent Tax Relief for Families

• 🎯 Republicans passed a huge tax relief package in 2017 that lowered tax rates for every income group, doubled the child tax credit, and nearly doubled the standard deduction.
• ⚠️ Without action, these provisions were set to expire at the end of the year, leading to tax increases for Americans, with a typical family seeing a $1,700 annual rise.
• 🔑 The Working Families Tax Cut was passed in July to make the 2017 tax relief permanent, ensuring lower tax rates, an increased standard deduction, and the enhanced child tax credit remain in place.

Expanded Child Tax Credit and Deductions

• 📈 The child tax credit was expanded further and indexed to inflation to maintain its value over time.
• 💰 A new $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors was added, allowing Social Security recipients to retain more of their income.
• 💡 The standard deduction was further increased, exempting additional income from taxation.

Tax Relief for Workers and Businesses

• 💸 Taxes on tips were eliminated for millions of tip workers, including drivers, stylists, and servers.
• 🧑‍🚒 Taxes on overtime pay were eliminated for millions of hourly workers, benefiting professions like nurses, police officers, and firefighters.
• 🏢 Business tax relief from 2017 was also made permanent, including lower tax rates for small and medium-sized businesses and the 199A small business deduction.
• 🏭 Full expensing for new equipment, domestic research and development, and new factories was enacted to encourage domestic production and job creation.

Protecting Farms and Small Businesses

• 🚜 The legislation acted to protect family farms, ranches, and small businesses from the punitive death tax and associated planning complexities.
• ✅ Republicans are committed to continuing efforts to enhance affordability, expand opportunity, and increase prosperity for hardworking Americans.