Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday December 19, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). Congressman Randy Weber (R – Friendswood) released the following statement:

“Over the course of seven years, there have been 41 Ways and Means Committee hearings on tax reform, 72 Senate Finance Committee hearings on tax reform, and countless other discussions and meetings. Everything culminated with this – the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

“This House and Senate embraced the extraordinary opportunity to fix a broken system and relieve the undue burden of costly taxes from so many Americans. In reforming the tax code, we lower taxes for all Americans by reducing every single tax bracket. The standard deduction has nearly doubled for everyone. With lower taxes across the board, businesses, both large and small, will be better able to foster job creation, wage growth, and competitiveness.

“What does all of this mean? It means more of your hard-earned money in your pocket. It means more jobs created. It means a fairer and simpler tax code. This is a tax cut for all Americans. It is pro-family. It is pro-growth.

“I applaud Chairman Kevin Brady, the Ways and Means Committee, the Conferees, and everyone who worked tirelessly to ensure Americans see lower taxes in the new year. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is on its way to the Senate and then to the President’s desk.”

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With this bill, a family of four earning the median family income of $73,000 will receive a tax cut of $2,059. Specifically, H.R. 1 provisions include:

Individuals:
• Lowers individual tax rates to 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%.
• Establishes a new Family Credit – which includes expanding the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000. for each child and providing new credits of $500 each for other dependents. The credit is refundable up to $1400 provided a social security number is provided for each qualifying child.
• Preserves the deduction for charitable contributions.
• Preserves the home mortgage interest deduction for existing mortgages and maintains the home mortgage interest deduction for newly purchased homes for interest on up to $750,000 of mortgage principal.
• Eliminates the Obamacare individual mandate penalty beginning January 1, 2019.
• Provides support for Graduate students by continuing to reduce the value of reduced tuition from taxes.

Businesses:
• Lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, effective 1/1/18.
• Allows businesses to immediately write off the full cost of purchases of new or used equipment.
• Protects the ability of small businesses and any businesses with “floor plan” inventory financing to write off the interest on loans.

For more information on the bill, visit fairandsimple.gop.
For a brief summary of the bill, click here.