Should the GOP Tax Cuts for Individuals & Families be Permanent? (H.R. 4886)

What is H.R. 4886?

(Updated August 11, 2019)

This bill — the Permanent Tax Cuts for Americans Act — would make permanent the tax cuts for individuals and families enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The individual tax cuts are currently scheduled to terminate December 31, 2025, at which point taxes would increase to their previous levels.

Argument in favor

Through lower tax rates and a larger standard deduction, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the tax burden on working individuals and families and will help spur economic growth. Those reforms to the tax code should be locked permanently, as a possible tax hike in 2026 would undercut the economic benefits of the tax cut.

Argument opposed

The reduced tax rates and higher standard deduction provided by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act should be repealed as they increase the deficit too much and don’t do enough to help working Americans. If they were to be made permanent it’d explode the budget deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Impact

Taxpayers; and the federal government.

Cost of H.R. 4886

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) introduced this bill in January to make the individual tax cuts included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, stating at the time:

“[In February], 90 percent of American workers will see bigger paychecks because Washington will withhold less. I believe these tax cuts should be permanent. In December, Congress passed historic tax relief for millions of Americans who need it the most. Unfortunately, without bipartisan support, the Senate was forced to make these provisions sunset in 2025. Today, we’re giving our friends on the other side of the aisle a chance to support permanent tax relief for working Americans. The average family of four making the median income of $78,509 in my district will save $2,224 next year. I was to make this permanent for these families I represent and others. I hope we will see the bipartisan support needed to make this possible.”

This legislation has the support of 60 cosponsors in the House, all of whom are Republicans.

Of Note: A Penn-Wharton Budget Model analysis projected that making the individual tax cuts permanent would increase the national debt by between $573 billion and $736 billion.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) Press Release
  
• CNBC
  
• Washington Times