American taxpayers deserve a break. Our tax code, with all its rules, loopholes, and costs, is essentially all the things that drive you crazy about government rolled into one. The tax system should favor the hardworking people who pay the taxes, not the people in Washington who collect them.
Today we have released a plan to restore that balance of power, and fix our broken tax code so that it puts Americans first. This is a unified plan we developed among the House, the Senate, and President Trump’s administration. I invite you to read it here.
Now more than ever, the hardworking people of this country deserve a simple and fair tax code that is pro-growth and pro-family. Here are five ways our plan delivers:
- People in the middle, and people striving to get there, have just been getting more and more squeezed. Our plan shrinks the current seven tax brackets into three–12%, 25%, and 35%–and roughly doubles the standard deduction, which means more income will not be taxed at all. We are significantly increasing the child tax credit too. With these changes, middle-class families will be able to keep more of their paycheck.
- The tax code is riddled with exemptions and pet provisions for the well-connected. Our plan does away with special interest loopholes, making things fairer for everyone. This will help unrig our economy, allow us to lower your tax rates, and rewire the system to expand opportunity for more Americans trying to get ahead.
- You are probably sick of filling out long forms after reading even longer instructions for how to fill them out. Our plan will so dramatically simplify the code that most of you will be able to do your taxes on a form the size of a postcard.
- Small businesses bear the brunt of government red tape and regulations. If that weren’t enough, the top tax rate on successful small businesses is sky-high. That’s a real gut punch. Our plan limits the maximum tax rate for small and family-owned businesses to 25 percent—a new, significantly lower rate than what they pay today.
- America’s tax code is so broken that it is enabling the drain of jobs and capital overseas. We want more products made in America by American workers. Our plan will level the playing field for American companies and workers, so they can bring jobs home and get America back to the front of the pack.
Those are the big pillars. More jobs, fairer taxes, and bigger paychecks for hardworking people. Stronger incentives for families playing by the rules. A real boost for small and family-owned businesses. Less power for the IRS. Fewer carveouts for special interests. An end to all the dread and hassle of tax filing.
Now that the core of our plan is set, committees in the House and Senate will go to work on filling in the details. Our goal is for Americans to wake up in the new year with a new tax system.
The stakes are high here. After all, the tax code affects just about every aspect of our lives: how we provide for our families, how we pay for our kids to go to college, how we plan for our retirement. You deserve a tax code that helps you do those things instead of making them harder.
With this plan, you will get that. You will get a break for a change. And all of us will get a more prosperous, confident America.