Eastern Shore Times

WASHINGTON, DC: On February 1, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02) voted for H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation makes a historic investment in American workers, families, farmers, and small businesses by extending and building on the Tax Cuts and Small Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA).

Importantly, H.R. 7024 responsibly expands the Child Tax Credit, ends a wasteful COVID-era program rife with fraud, and is estimated to prevent the loss of one million jobs that would be at risk if TCJA provisions were allowed to expire. Overall, the pro-growth, pro-worker, pro-America tax provisions within the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act would account for $600 billion in tax relief and incentives over the next decade if the policies were made permanent, according to estimates based on analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation.

 The legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 357-70.

“For years, the American people have been burdened by historic inflation, watching their paychecks shrink, and struggling to provide for their families,” said Congresswoman Kiggans. “I am proud to help deliver commonsense, bipartisan solutions to provide relief to families, farmers, workers, and small businesses. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act will help us compete against countries like China, reduce poverty and unemployment, encourage economic investment in communities across America, save taxpayer dollars, and support families. We need more efforts like this where Republicans and Democrats reach across the aisle and work together to make Americans’ lives better. That’s what I came to Congress to do and am glad to have delivered on that promise today.”

BACKGROUND

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 focuses on several key areas of America’s tax code to realign our economy on a path to growth, including restoring and making permanent several key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. By doing so, the bill ensures the tax code is working for families and job creators, not the other way around. Specifically, the bipartisan legislation:

Expands Innovation and Competitiveness with Pro-Growth Economic Policies

• Expands Research & Development (R&D) expensing so businesses of all sizes can immediately deduct the cost of their U.S.-based R&D investments instead of over five years – encouraging American innovation and improving our competitive position versus China and the rest of the world.
• Allows for interest deductibility, providing continued flexibility for businesses forced to borrow at higher interest rates to meet their payroll obligations and expand their operations.
• Restores full and immediate expensing for investments in machines, equipment, and vehicles.
• Strengthens America’s competitive position with China by removing the current double taxation that exists for businesses and workers with a footprint in both the United States and Taiwan.

Supports Working Families with an Enhanced Child Tax Credit

• Expands access to Child Tax Credit by instituting a phased increase to the refundable portion of the child tax credit for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
• Eliminates penalties for larger families by ensuring the Child Tax Credit phase-in applies fairly to families with multiple children.
• Provides inflation relief by adjusting the tax credit for inflation starting in 2024. 

Eliminates Fraud and Waste by Ending the Employee Retention Tax Credit Program

• Saves over $70 billion in taxpayer dollars by accelerating the deadline for filing backdated claims to January 31, 2024, under the COVID-era employee retention tax credit – a program hit by major cost overruns and fraud.

Increases Supply of Low-Income Housing

• Enhances the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, a public-private partnership with a proven track record, with increased state allocations and a reduced tax-exempt bond financing requirement.

Builds Up Main Street and Rebuilds Communities Struck by Disasters

• Expands small business expensing cap, increasing the amount of investment that a small business can immediately write off to $1.29 million, which is above the $1 million cap enacted in 2017.
• Cuts red tape for small business by adjusting the reporting threshold for businesses that use subcontract labor from $600 to $1,000 and index for inflation – the first update to the threshold since the 1950s.
• Helps families get back on their feet with disaster tax relief covering recent hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and the Ohio rail disaster.

The full text of H.R. 7024 is available here.

Original source can be found here.