The Honorable Richard Neal
Chairman
House Ways and Means Committee
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Kevin Brady
Ranking Member
House Ways and Means Committee
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Neal and Ranking Member Brady:

We write in opposition to any effort to roll back the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

The Ways and Means Committee will soon markup legislation that accelerates a scheduled death tax increase by three years.

This would be a mistake – increasing the death tax will disproportionately harm small businesses and family owned farms.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced taxes on American families at every income level and for businesses large and small.

A family of four earning the median income of $73,000 is seeing a federal tax cut of $2,000, while overall tax liability has dropped by almost 25 percent, according to a report from H&R Block.

Family businesses are benefiting from the doubled death tax exemption and the creation of the 20 percent small business deduction for businesses organized as passthrough entities.

The TCJA also reduced the federal corporate rate from 35 percent (the highest in the developed world) to 21 percent. This rate reduction has made the U.S. competitive with other countries and has allowed businesses to invest in the economy and in American workers.

The TCJA’s corporate rate cut has directly lowered utility rates in all 50 states. This means lower water, gas, and electric bills for American households. Any increase in the corporate rate would directly raise the cost of utility bills.

The tax cuts have also grown the economy. The unemployment rate is at 3.6 percent — the lowest rate since 1969 – and has been below 4 percent for 15 consecutive months. Similarly, nominal average wages have grown by at or above 3 percent for the past 10 months. An average of 196,000 jobs have been created each month over the past year.

Rolling back any part of the TCJA undermines these gains. As such, we urge you to reject any proposal to undo the TCJA including a death tax increase.

Sincerely,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform

James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman, 60 Plus Association

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President, 60 Plus Association

Phil Kerpen
President, American Commitment

Lisa B. Nelson
CEO, ALEC Action

Brent Wm. Gardner
Chief Government Affairs Officer, Americans for Prosperity

Dan Weber
Founder and President, Association of Mature American Citizens

Ryan Ellis
President, Center for a Free Economy

Andrew F. Quinlan
President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Jeffrey Mazzella
President, Center for Individual Freedom

David McIntosh
President, Club for Growth

Matthew Kandrach
President, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy

Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty

Palmer Schoening
President, Family Business Coalition

Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks

Tim Chapman
Executive Director, Heritage Action

Heather R. Higgins
CEO, Independent Women’s Voice

Tom Giovanetti
President, Institute for Policy Innovation

Seton Motley
President, Less Government

Pete Sepp
President, National Taxpayers Union

Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance

Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Tim Andrews
Executive Director, Taxpayer Protection Alliance