The presidential hopeful says it's time to simplify the tax code and lower the corporate tax rate.
Jeb Bush has outlined a plan to deal with one of the most pressing concerns facing small business owners: simplifying the tax code. Part of his proposal includes reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent.
Want to learn ways to save on taxes? Check out the Small Business Tax Guide now.
Earlier this week, the former governor of Florida and Republican presidential candidate unveiled a proposal that would overhaul the 80,000-page U.S. tax code.
“It punishes people for doing things we should encourage and rewards people for doing things that may not be so good,” Bush said. “It taxes paychecks hard but gives companies a write-off for debt. The current tax code makes it easier to borrow than to build. I believe it’s time we build for the future—not borrow from it.”
Bush’s tax proposal would:
- Trim the number of tax brackets from seven to three: 28 percent, 25 percent and 10 percent. Under this plan, the 28 percent tax bracket would bring the rate down to Reagan’s 1986 tax reform level.
- Eliminate the death tax, marriage penalty.
- End employees’ share of the Social Security tax on earnings for those older than 67 years.
- Expand the earned income tax credit.
- Double the standard deduction taken by most tax filers in the country.
- Take away income tax liability for about 15 million Americans.
That said, it would add an estimated $1.2 trillion to $3.4 trillion to the national deficit, according to The Washington Post. Some critics point to the ballooning deficit as a major flaw, while others say the tax cuts don’t go far enough.
The reform would “undoubtedly benefit people in upper brackets more,” Kevin Hassett, the American Enterprise Institute’s director of economic policy studies, told ABC News. He added that the plan could also bolster small businesses.
“One of the things we’ve seen is a collapse in the role of small business in the economy,” Hassett said. “This is the policy that has the potential to have the biggest positive effect.”
*Note: This news coverage does not equate to an endorsement of any candidate by NFIB.
photo credit: Gage Skidmore
