Taxes

I have long supported tax relief for middle-income families, small businesses, farms, and ranches in South Dakota and around the country. That is why, as a member of both the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee and the conference committee that was tasked with negotiating the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the first major reforms to our tax code in a generation, I’ve made it a priority to ensure taxpayers can keep more of their hard-earned paycheck.

When Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015, we promised the American people that we would help get our economy back on track, and with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we helped deliver.

This law accomplishes two important goals: it helped put more money in the pockets of South Dakota families, and it is continuing to help grow the economy.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cuts tax rates for middle-income families, doubles the child tax credit, and nearly doubles the standard deduction. The law lowers tax rates across the board for small and medium-sized businesses, farms, and ranches, allowing business owners to reinvest in their businesses, create jobs, and increase employee wages.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also reduces our nation’s corporate tax rate, which was the highest rate in the developed world, so American businesses are not operating at a competitive disadvantage to their foreign counterparts and so that they can reinvest in the American economy. In part, as a result of these changes, our economy is continuing to grow, unemployment is low, and business optimism is high.

Building on our success in tax reform, I’m looking forward to continuing my work this Congress on several additional tax-related bills, including my Death Tax Repeal Act, NEW GIG Act, CHARITY Act, and S Corporation Modernization Act.

These bills, all of which I first introduced last Congress, cover the elimination of the death tax’s financial burden on small businesses and family-run farms and ranches in South Dakota and across the country and updating tax rules to make it easier and more efficient for S corporations to operate.

I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to enact legislation to make our tax code more focused on economic growth and one that allows taxpayers to keep even more of their hard-earned money.

Tax reform will continue to produce enormous benefits for our economy, and I intend on continue working to help ensure every American has access to a future of opportunity and financial security.