Key Vote YES on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, H.R. 7024

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and tell them to vote YES on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, H.R. 7024. The vote on final passage may be weighted for purposes of inclusion in our 2024 Congressional Scorecard. Additionally, if necessary, we will apply this key vote notice to the rule for the bill. 

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act is a critical tax bill carefully negotiated on a bipartisan basis between the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. In a town where hyperpartisanship and near-constant messaging bills are unfortunately all too frequent, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act represents one of the few opportunities that we may see this year to actually legislate and help taxpayers. 

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act reforms and expands the child tax credit, eliminates the penalty for large families, and provides a one-year income lookback. The bill also indexes the child tax credit to inflation beginning in tax year 2024. Under the business provisions, the bill extends the tax deduction for research and experimental expenditures; extends the allowance for using depreciation and amortization in determining the limitation on business interest (EBITDA); extends 100 percent bonus depreciation; and extends the limitation on expensing depreciable business assets. In addition to increasing the threshold for reporting on Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC from $600 to $1,000 and indexing inflation, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers includes enforcement provisions related to the Employee Retention Tax Credit, which has been plagued by abuse and fraud, and relief to areas impacted by disasters. 

Some have asked for examples of wins to come out of the current Congress. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which saves $1.5 trillion over ten years, is one example of a win. Weirdly, some who have been the most vocal about reducing federal spending voted against that bill. Even with the side agreements, the Fiscal Responsibility Act will still save $1 trillion. Some of those same Members are threatening to vote against the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act because of a concern that existed when Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017. Other Members have expressed frustration that the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act doesn’t include a subsidy that was used by fewer than 30 percent of tax filers in tax year 2014 (pre-TCJA), was overwhelmingly claimed by individuals who earned more than $100,000, and more than anything else is used to subsidize the heavy tax burdens of certain states. 

Congress has the opportunity to claim another win through the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. Legislative victories rarely have credibility with Americans when they’re accomplished on a partisan basis. That’s just a reality. Another reality is that control of Congress is split between Republicans and Democrats. No one gets everything they want in an atmosphere such as this. We must take the wins where we can get them to advance the ball downfield. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act does that. 

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act will have a deficit impact of only $400 million over ten years. We recognize that the potential of extending provisions could increase the deficit impact of the bill. We share the concern. However, we’ll fight that battle if and when Ways and Means and Finance attempt to extend those provisions without offsets. 

For these reasons, I urge you to call your senators and ask them to vote YES on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, H.R. 7024. FreedomWorks will count the vote on our 2024 Congressional Scorecard and reserves the right to score and weigh any related votes. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty. 

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks