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Congressional Republicans released the details of their tax reform plan Thursday, and sought feedback from the 25th Congressional District.

UPDATE: Congressman Knight Seeks Feedback On GOP Tax Reform Plan

Adds statement from Congressman Knight

Representative Steve Knight, R-Santa Clarita, and other congressional Republicans released the talking points for their tax reform plan Thursday.


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“Fair and simple” touts three goals: “more jobs, fairer taxes bigger paychecks,” a sentiment sure to resonate with any taxpayer.

Knight, along with his GOP colleagues, shared details of the plan, as well as a place for feedback so constituents can share their thoughts on the proposal.

Knight issued the following statement along with the plan:

“Filing for taxes every year is going to be simpler and cheaper. We are going to reduce the tax rate for all businesses-small and large- to make competition more fair in today’s marketplace and allow American companies to compete globally and bring jobs and resources back home. Our goal is to give more to the American people and I look forward to working with my colleagues on this mission.”

Click here for a link to FairAndSimple.GOP

A few of the highlights, according to a CNN Money analysis:

“Drastically lower rates for businesses. Fewer income tax rates for individuals. A much larger standard deduction and child tax credit. A repeal of the estate tax.”

The site shared by Knight offers 31 reasons the reform is needed, some of which seemed duplicative, such as No. 2, “Americans are spending too much money filing taxes,” and No. 3, “Americans at every income level deserve to keep more of their paychecks.

Below is additional commentary from CNN Money.  

 

How individual taxes would change

Reduce individual income tax rates: The framework shrinks the number of tax rates to just three from seven today. The proposed rates are 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. But it will be up to the tax committees to assign income ranges to each rate.

Also, the drop in the top rate to 35 percent from 39.6 percent may not stick. The framework gives tax legislators the “flexibility” to add a fourth rate above 35 percent to ensure reform keeps the tax code at least as progressive as the current system.

If 35 percent remains the top rate, Democrats will charge that reform is just giving a big tax cut to the wealthy.

And even though the administration says it wants reform to offer middle class tax relief, the framework calls for a 12 percent bottom rate, which is actually higher than today’s lowest rate of 10 percent. But typical families in the 10 percent bracket today “are expected to be better off” when all the changes under reform are considered together, the blueprint says.

Increase standard deduction: The plan doubles the standard deduction, to $24,000 for married couples and $12,000 for single filers.

 

Increase child tax credit: The framework calls for a “substantially higher” child tax credit, which today is worth $1,000 per child under 17. It will be up to lawmakers to determine how much higher to make it. In addition, it would raise the income thresholds for eligibility for the credit, meaning more people would qualify for it.

Get rid of valuable tax breaks: The framework proposes the elimination of most itemized deductions, including the state and local tax deduction.

It also eliminates personal exemptions, worth $4,050 per person. So a family of four could no longer reduce their taxable income by more than $16,000.

Preserve some deductions: Again without specifics, the framework calls for lawmakers to retain tax incentives for homeownership, retirement savings, charitable giving and higher education. But that doesn’t mean lawmakers won’t seek to modify the tax breaks that currently exist in these areas.

Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax: The AMT most typically hits filers making between $200,000 and $1 million.

It was originally intended to ensure the wealthy pay at least some tax.

Kill the estate tax: What Republicans refer to as the “death tax” only affects about 0.2% of all estates — and only those worth more than $5.5 million.


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UPDATE: Congressman Knight Seeks Feedback On GOP Tax Reform Plan

One comment

  1. I would hope Calif congressmen would fight the loss of state and local tax deductions that’s taxing our taxes which would probably cause me personally to pay more rather than less than I currently pay. Also not a fan of eliminating estate tax. Currently I pay a higher percentage in taxes than billionaires. most billionaires manage to pay close to 15 to 20 % or less I.e. Romney, warren Buffet etc. not to mention hedge fund managers.

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.