12.02.17

Hoeven: Senate Passes Tax Relief for North Dakotans, Small Businesses

Legislation Cuts Taxes for Individuals, Families and Small Businesses

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today released the following statement after the U.S. Senate passed tax relief legislation to lower tax rates for working Americans and the nation’s small businesses. 

“The Senate took an important step to provide hardworking, middle-class Americans with tax relief that will enable them to keep more of their paycheck and at the same time lower rates for small businesses, including our farmers and ranchers, so we can grow our economy and create more jobs with higher wages,” said Hoeven. “Now that the Senate has passed its tax relief plan, we’ll go to work with the House to deliver the best possible bill for hardworking Americans.”  

During Senate debate on the bill, Hoeven successfully worked to include provisions in the tax relief plan to benefit North Dakotans, including:

  • Increasing the tax deduction to 23% for qualified pass-through income, which reduces the tax burden for small businesses set up as a partnerships or pass-through entities. 
  • Maintaining the state and local property tax deduction up to $10,000 for individuals and families.
  • Maintaining the IC-DISC program, which enables small and medium businesses, including manufacturers, to reduce taxes on portions of their export income. 
  • Greater flexibility for implement and auto dealers to expense interest on inventory. The legislation includes a Hoeven amendment that exempts businesses with floor plan financing from the interest expense limitation, subject to further rules. 

Additionally, the Senate Tax Relief Package: 

Reduces the tax burden on hardworking American taxpayers.

  •  Provides a net tax cut of about $2,200 for a median income family of four. 
  • Increases the standard deduction for individuals to $12,000 and married couples to $24,000. 
  •  Increases the standard deduction for a single parent with dependents to $18,000. 
  • 9 out of 10 taxpayers will likely use the expanded standard deduction.
  • Doubles the Child Tax Credit to $2,000 per child.
  • Retains the student loan intereste deduction.
  • Retains the medical expense deduction.

Benefits to Small Businesses, Farmer and Ranchers

  • For the first five years, allows full expensing or writing off the cost of new investments, which is phased down over an additional four year period.
  • Expands the Section 179 expensing of equipment on a permanent basis.
  • Doubles the estate tax exemption, while maintaining the step-up in basis for capital gains.
  • Maintains interest deductibility as well as the property tax deduction for small businesses, farmers and ranchers.

Tax relief, combined with regulatory relief, will empower the economy to grow and increase government revenues. Claims that the legislation will increase the deficit do not account for or underestimate revenue from a growing economy. Additionally, the legislation does not cut spending to agriculture or other programs nor does it require across the board spending cuts due to Pay-Go requirements. 

Hoeven has been working to ensure tax reform works for North Dakota families and businesses. Last week, the senator held roundtables in Bismarck and Fargo to gather input from North Dakotans. Hoeven has repeatedly spoken on the Senate floor to outline tax reform priorities. Additionally, earlier this fall, the senator held a series of roundtable discussions in Minot, Grand Forks and Bismarck with the North Dakota small businesses and farmers and ranchers to gather input.  

-###-