Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today released the following statement after the release of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

“Southern Illinois’ middle-class families deserve a break. We need more jobs, higher take-home pay, and greater opportunity to get ahead. That’s why we went to work on a plan that simplifies the code and gives average working families a $1,200 tax cut.  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gives you the breathing room you need to save for college, help raise a family, or prepare for a rainy day. When given the chance, I have no doubt you’ll keep a closer eye on your hard-earned dollars than any Washington bureaucrat ever will.”

For individuals and families, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Lowers individual tax rates for low- and middle-income Americans to zero, 12 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent so people can keep more of the money they earn throughout their lives, and continues to maintain 39.6 percent for high-income Americans.
• Significantly increases the standard deduction to protect roughly double the amount of what you earn each year from taxes – from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples.
• Eliminates special-interest deductions that increase rates and complicate Americans’ taxes – so an individual or family can file their taxes on a form as simple as a postcard.
• Establishing a new Family Credit – which includes expanding the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $1,600 to help parents with the cost of raising children, and providing a credit of $300 for each parent and non-child dependent to help all families with their everyday expenses.
• Retains popular retirement savings options such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts so Americans can continue to save for their future. 

For job creators of all sizes, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Lowers the corporate tax rate to 20 percent – down from 35 percent, which today is the highest in the industrialized world – the largest reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate in our nation’s history.
• Reduces the tax rate on the hard-earned business income of Main Street job creators to no more than 25 percent – the lowest tax rate on small business income since World War II.
• Establishes strong safeguards to distinguish between individual wage income and “pass-through” business income so Main Street tax relief goes to the local job creators it was designed to help most.
• Prevents American jobs, headquarters, and research from moving overseas by eliminating incentives that now reward companies for shifting jobs, profits, and manufacturing plants abroad.

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