Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Scott Perry voted in favor of an historic move by House Representatives to overhaul the U.S. Tax Code - the first, major tax reform undertaken in 30 years.

“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivers much needed relief to middle-income families and small businesses,” said Congressman Perry. “This plan helps us break free from the economic conditions we’ve grown accustomed to over the last decade - slow-growth, stagnant wages and jobs fleeing overseas. While no plan is perfect, the overall package is better than the status quo. The American People deserve a fair chance to succeed and this plan helps level the playing field in ways we haven’t seen in a generation.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) by a vote of 227 to 205.

The Tax Code has grown to more than 70,000 pages since it was last reformed in 1986, and is riddled with unfair advantages for special interests, making it far too complicated and expensive. In contrast, the House Republican Plan allows 90% of Americans to file their taxes on a form the size of a postcard.

As currently written, the House Plan cuts taxes for the typical American family by an estimated $1,182 and allows them to keep money for whatever's important to them, rather than shipping it to Washington. The Plan does this by: roughly doubling the standard deduction – from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals, and $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples; expanding and enhancing family-focused tax benefits; and throwing out special interest loopholes to lower tax rates and simplifying the Tax Code for everyone.

Experts estimate the Plan will also create about 1 million new jobs nationwide by reducing burdens on job creators of all sizes. The Plan: cuts the taxes of Main Street job creators to no more than 25% – the lowest tax rate on small businesses since World War II; lowers the corporate tax rate to 20% - down 35% - which today is the highest in the industrialized world; and creates a new, low tax rate of 9% for businesses earning less than $75,000 to help small business startups that fuel innovation and job creation in our communities.

While the plan is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years, Congressman Perry said, “I’m committed to reining in our debt and deficit spending, but this is the opportunity that Congress has in front of it right now. We have to get our spending under control, but if we can create the opportunity for businesses to do better than they are now and have many of them bring money back from overseas, we’re going to be able to make a sizable dent in these fiscal issues over the long term.”

Perry's consistently voted to reduce federal spending since being elected to Congress and advocated for similar actions to ensure that this bill doesn’t worsen our $20 trillion debt.

While some argue the tax reform package is a “giveaway to the wealthy,” Congressman Perry rejects that notion. “While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces the number of tax brackets from 7 to 4 and helps working families keep more of the money they earn throughout their lives, it maintains the 39.6% rate for Americans who make more than 1 million,” he said.

The Senate is in the process of debating its own tax reform legislation. The House and Senate are expected to reconcile the differences between the two proposals in the coming weeks.
 
Perry said he was looking forward to working with his House and Senate colleagues to improve their respective legislation and deliver meaningful tax relief and reform hard-working people and small businesses.