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Ryan Votes to Stop Tax Hike on Working People, Small Businesses WASHINGTON – Wisconsin’s
First District Congressman Paul Ryan today voted in favor of legislation that
will prevent an across-the-board income tax increase next year and a subsequent
major tax hike in 2011, when the 10 percent tax bracket is scheduled to
disappear – pushing roughly 22 million low-income workers into the higher 15
percent bracket. The measure –
H.R. 4275 – passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 344-76. If this bill does not become law, 73 million U.S. taxpayers
will pay higher taxes next year when the 10 percent bracket shrinks.
In 2002, over 490,000 federal income tax returns from Wisconsin were
solely within the 10 percent tax bracket, demonstrating the broad impact of this
legislation for low-income taxpayers. “Pulling the rug out from under working Wisconsinites by
raising their taxes would hurt them, their families, and our economy,” Ryan
said. “This tax hike would also
hurt small businesses’ ability to create more jobs because most small business
owners file their tax returns as individuals.
We had to act to stop this harmful tax increase and keep our economy on
the path to full recovery,” Ryan said. The tax relief of 2001 and 2003 created and accelerated a
new, lower 10 percent tax bracket. (The
lowest rate from 1986 to 2000 was 15 percent.)
As a result, in 2003 and 2004, the 10 percent rate applied to the first
$7,000 of taxable income for single taxpayers and $14,000 in taxable income for
married couples filing jointly. Unfortunately,
because of an arcane Senate rule, the 10 percent bracket will shrink next year
and will disappear in 2011 if Congress doesn’t change the law.
H.R. 4275 corrects this problem and stops the tax hike from occurring. |