Tax Reform
I believe that America’s tax system should promote family saving and investment and encourage economic growth through simplicity and fairness. Instead, the current system is laden with inherent disincentives against working and investing.
The tax code is also unnecessarily complex. In fact, studies have shown that Americans annually spend billions of dollars and hours to comply with it. In short, the current tax system stifles opportunity for American families and businesses. Simplifying the tax code would stimulate job growth and help improve the economy (more on this effort below).
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a bold, pro-growth bill that will overhaul our nation’s tax code for the first time since President Reagan’s historic tax reform 31 years ago. With this bill, a typical middle-income family of four, earning $59,000 (the median household income), will receive a $1,182 tax cut.
More on Tax Reform
To watch Congressman Graves give an update on what is happneing in Washington, DC on the Louisiana Business and Industry Show click here.
The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act is a game-changing rewrite of our tax system that finally puts what’s best for people – not government – first.
DENHAM SPRINGS – Congressman Garret Graves on Thursday blasted the federally funded Restore Louisiana program for its sluggish award distribution for 2016 flood victims in Livingston and other parishes.
The congressman made his comments during the March 29 meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Denham Springs.
Restore Louisiana has doled out only $60 million of the $1.7 billion flood recovery package Congress approved in December 2016. The state, meanwhile, has funneled contractors $75 million to distribute money from the relief package.
After championing progress made toward improving U.S. infrastructure and the economy, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves said some areas in Congress and nationwide are “still broken”—like the growing national debt, the ongoing health care and gun debates and rampant political divisiveness, which he calls the biggest threat to our country.
Louisianans hit by floods in 2016 will want to dust off their old tax returns from that year to tap new deductions and cash in on hundreds of millions of federal tax relief dollars for those who saw homes, cars and other property ruined by rising waters.
Two changes wrapped in December’s GOP-backed tax cuts will let those hit by that year’s devastating March and August floods write off far more of their losses on their returns — even if they didn’t itemize their deductions — and get refunds on penalties for tapping retirement savings to rebuild.
In 2017, Congressman Graves introduced H.R. 2849, the Louisiana Flood and Storm Devastation Act of 2017, which would grant homeowners and individuals emergency tax relief. Graves and others successfully fought to ensure that these disaster-related, tax relief provisions were included in the major tax reform legislation recently enacted.
Coming soon: bigger paychecks. Today, the Department of Treasury released new withholding tables following enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These updated tables will take effect in February, which means that in just a few weeks, Americans across the country will start to see bigger paychecks.
“Many employees will begin to see increases in their paychecks to reflect the new law in February,” according to the IRS.
A bill giving more flood victims a chance at financial assistance overcame a major hurdle in Washington Thursday.
The bill, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to fix the “duplication of benefits” issue that has plagued recovery efforts for many of those impacted by the August 2016 flood.