Texas Congressman Kevin Brady, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, finally unveiled what Republicans are calling it a "unified framework" for tax reform.
“We’re taking action now. Action that will bring more jobs, fairer taxes and bigger paychecks,” The Woodlands Republican said Wednesday.
“For the middle-class workers and families and the main street job creators merely struggling to get by today, this is our year to chart a new course,” he added.
Republicans are looking to lower the tax rate for individuals down to 35 and the corporate rate to 20-percent.
“Something encouraging is repeal of the ‘death tax’ which has been particularly onerous for family-owned businesses, especially in the agriculture sections,” said Romina Boccia with the Heritage Foundation. “Another component is businesses will no longer get taxed on their worldwide income, just on their profits in the United States.
Critics such as Susan Harley at Public Citizen argue the corporate tax cut only benefits the super rich.
“Instead they pay out dividends to shareholders, they buy back their stock to increase value or they give their CEOs huge bonuses,” said Harley. “So we don’t believe the way that corporations operate and the way the rich operate is somehow going to change.”
Boccia disagrees.
“We’ve seen too much of politics of envy on the left that is not based in reality and doesn’t take into account what we know in that the corporate tax rate is not actually paid by corporations, that’s just where it is collected,” said Boccia. “Ultimately the tax burden falls on American workers in the form of lower wages.”
Harley also believes the real estate tax is meaningless, since it only impacts a small portion of taxpayers.
“Out of all the hundreds of millions of estates out there, only 50 really go past that threshold that are considered small businesses or family farms, so really it is a false narrative that is being used.”
Critics also worry Republicans will do away with itemizing state and local taxes, though the framework would increase the standard deduction and child tax credit.