Hatch Unveils Pro-Growth, Pro-Jobs, Pro-Family Tax Overhaul Plan

Under Finance Committee Proposal a Typical Family of Four Will See Its Taxes Go Down By Nearly $1,500

WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) unveiled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a comprehensive tax reform proposal designed to provide fiscally responsible tax relief for the middle-class, bring down tax rates across the board, and enhance America’s competitiveness to keep jobs and investment here at home.

“For years, Congress has examined, debated, and vetted policies designed to remake the tax code in a way that will keep pace with the 21st-century economy and better meet the needs of the American people,” said Hatch. “Helping Americans keep more of their hard-earned dollars, find new jobs and increase their take-home pay has always been at the heart of this effort. And now, with a willing president, we have an opportunity to turn this effort into a reality.” 

The proposal, known as the chairman’s mark, was drafted under Hatch’s leadership, with Finance Committee Republicans, and is based on the unified framework released by the administration, Senate and House earlier this year.

The House Ways and Means Committee kicked off the legislative process for tax reform earlier this week with the launch of a markup of its version of the bill. The Senate proposal, released today, encompasses Republicans’ shared pro-growth, pro-middle-class vision, but offers different approaches on some policy provisions to achieve the unified goal.

“With this measure, a typical family of four will see its taxes go down by nearly $1,500,” Hatch continued. “We’ve preserved and even strengthened incentives that ease financial burdens associated with growing families and ensured Americans can save for their retirement and invest in their future. The Senate proposal benefits Main Street businesses and modernizes the tax system in a way that will shift our economic landscape to make America a more inviting place for businesses to invest, keeping jobs from being shipped overseas.”

The Senate Finance Committee traditionally holds conceptual markups, meaning the legislation is debated and examined as a detailed narrative, rather than actual bill text. The proposal released today is a conceptual mark. Hatch went on to announce the committee will begin to mark up the proposal on Monday, Nov. 13.

“We are on track to begin our committee markup on Monday,” said Hatch. “This is just the start of the legislative process in the Senate. We expect robust committee debate on the policies in this bill, will have an open amendment process, and hope to report legislation by the end of next week. I’m confident that if we continue to allow each chamber the opportunity to work its will, we can easily reconcile our differences, making good on our promise to enact comprehensive tax reform that will lift our nation and increase the standard of living for Americans across the country.”

Background
The Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the American tax system, has spearheaded efforts in Congress to overhaul the nation’s broken tax code. Through working groups, hearings, roundtables, issue papers and markups, Senators have examined effective ways to update the U.S. tax code and make it simpler and fairer.

Hatch, who became the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee in January 2011, has long called for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s tax code so that it’s more efficient and competitive for both job creators and hard-working, middle-class families.

Under his leadership, the Committee marked up tax extenders legislation in July 2015. This action served as the foundation for the PATH Act, which was signed into law in 2015 and put in place permanent and responsible tax relief for American families and job creators, laying the groundwork for fundamental tax reform.

The chairman’s mark that was announced today is a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. tax code, which will lower individual tax rates for low- and-middle income Americans by expanding the zero tax bracket and maintaining a 10 percent bracket. The bill includes a reformed rate structure that targets tax relief to the middle-class while maintaining the existing tax distribution, and a 38.5 percent bracket for high-income earners.

The bill expands the child tax credit, and preserves the adoption tax credit and the earned income tax credit (EITC). It also protects the home mortgage interest deduction and provides relief from the death tax, among others provisions.

On the business side, the Senate proposal permanently drops the corporate tax rate to 20 percent and shifts the United States to a territorial tax system with base erosion protections. Main Street job creators would see relief through enhanced Section 179 expensing and a simple deduction for pass-through businesses of all sizes. With numerous pro-growth provisions, the chairman’s mark will put American businesses, small and large, in a stronger position to expand, invest, hire, and raise wages for hard-working Americans.

To view a full copy of the chairman’s mark, click here.

A score of the mark may be found here.

A summary of policy highlights may be found here.

Real world taxpayer examples under the Senate proposal may be found here.

A look at the Finance Committee’s history in the tax space can be found here.

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