Today, National Taxpayers Union (NTU) joined a coalition of free market organizations to commend House Republicans for releasing a bold outline for pro-growth tax reform.
The plan would overhaul our current tax code, which is outdated, inefficient, and excessively complicated, and replace it with a fairer, simpler system that would spur economic growth and foster job creation.
“The House Republican plan is a cornucopia of good tax policy and an excellent first step towards reforming our monstrous tax code. The blueprint outlines a better way to reaching the most important goals of pro-growth reform: lower rates for individuals and businesses, full expensing for capital investments, territorial taxation, and a leaner, less complex code,” said NTU Executive Vice President Brandon Arnold.
One of the plan’s highlights is cutting our corporate tax rate - currently the highest in the industrialized world - down to 20 percent, which would bring us below the international average for developed economies.
“This would turn the tables on our corporate inversion problem. Instead of scrambling to block our businesses from moving overseas, under this plan, we'd see foreign companies relocating here,” stated Arnold. “Meanwhile, by shifting to a ‘territorial’ tax system, businesses already here would no longer be hobbled or penalized for competing in markets overseas.”
The plan also cleans up the code by consolidating overlapping tax credits, eliminating the alternative minimum tax, and finally putting the death tax out of America’s misery.
“The death tax has destroyed over a trillion dollars in capital by forcing small businesses and family farms to shut down. This plan would wisely kill the unfair death tax, which has plagued entrepreneurs since World War II.”
The blueprint would also provide most individuals and families with a tax cut. Lower-income Americans can obtain a larger standard deduction that would completely remove many from income tax liabilities. An expanded and improved child tax credit and reformed Earned Income Tax Credit would likewise provide substantial assistance to those who are most vulnerable.
Investors at many income levels also stand to benefit from the plan’s flattening of tax brackets and rates and reduction of the capital gains tax.
“This plan would benefit taxpayers across the economic spectrum. It would help lower-income Americans move up the economic ladder while allowing other households to keep more of their earnings and safeguard their financial futures,” said Arnold.
NTU looks forward to working with Congressional leaders to advance tax reform in the current Congress to pave the way for comprehensive legislation in the next Congress.