Republicans in the House and Senate have both presented their tax reform plans for the country and despite opposition from Democrats, their plans seem to be moving forward.
U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the Republican plan is offering tax relief for the middle class.
“What we’re able to do is drive these rates down for everybody by putting some things on the table and negotiating our way through it,” Roskam said.
Roskam said an increase of the child tax credit to $1,600 per family, the addition of a new family credit and the elimination of the alternative minimum tax will help middle class families.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance the House tax reform bill on a 24-16 party line vote, according to CNBC.
House and Senate Republicans are at odds over whether to get rid of federal deductions for state and local taxes, Reuters reported. The Senate bill calls for its elimination while the House bill does not.
“I felt strongly that the property tax deductions had to stay on this form because I represent a constituency that is scandalized by the property tax,” Roskam told Dan Proft and guest host John Kass on "Chicago’s Morning Answer" radio show.
Proft is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.
Roskam said he believes this bill will help individuals and companies long-term.
“We’ve cooked in permanency into this, that is permanent tax rates at the corporate level which is going to be incredibly important and permanently low at the 20 percent rate and also a permanent rate that individuals can rely on,” Roskam said.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Senate bill differs from the House plan in a several ways, among them are the mortgage interest deduction rules will not be altered, the estate tax remains intact, corporations will have to wait until 2019 to have their rates lowered from 35 percent to 20 percent and the number of tax brackets will remain at seven, even though the House wanted it lowered to four.
Roskam wants tax relief to come by the end of 2017. “If we do, 2018 is going to be a really good year from an economic point of view,” Roskam said. “The growth that you’ll see I think will be just phenomenal.”
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