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Our tax code was broken and hardworking Hoosier taxpayers were being unfairly punished.

It had been 31 years since the tax code had been reformed and the status quo was not putting hardworking Americans first. Instead, our tax code had become too costly, complex, unfair and full of loopholes and special interest tax breaks that rewarded the well-connected.

Through an army of lobbyists, the well-connected were able to work the system and keep more of their money while average Americans saw too much of their hard-earned tax dollars taken and wasted by Washington.    

Hardworking taxpayers deserve a tax code that respects the effort they make, respects the work that they do, and respects their time. Everyone should be allowed to keep more of what they earn, not just those who can afford a lobbyist or who have the right connections in Washington.

It is time for Washington to make the tax code clearer, simpler and fairer for hardworking Americans – and that’s exactly what the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does. It closes loopholes and ends special interest tax breaks and handouts – enabling everyone to pay a lower tax rate and keep more of the money they have earned.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act helps Hoosier families by lowering income tax rates, significantly increasing the standard deduction by roughly doubling it to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples, and expanding the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000. Under this law, the typical family of four will see a tax cut of $2,059. 

Finally, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides much needed relief to families struggling to buy health insurance they don’t want, at a price they can’t afford, by repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate and allowing families to decide what health care coverage is right for them.

Not only did the tax code status quo penalize hardworking Americans, but it also penalized American employers. Employers in the United States faced some of the highest business tax rates in the industrialized world, causing too many jobs and too much tax revenue to be sent to other countries.

Now, we have a tax code that encourages American jobs, American wages, and American taxpayers. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivers a simpler, fairer, and flatter tax code for employers. It lowers the corporate tax rate to 21 percent – America’s lowest rate since 1940, allows businesses to write-off the full cost of new equipment and investments in expanding businesses, and introduces a new rate structure for smaller and medium sized businesses organized as S corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships.

This will help America compete and win anywhere in the world, encouraging American employers to create new jobs and bring jobs sent overseas back home. The result will be a healthy economy here at home with rising job creation, rising wages, and more money in the paychecks of Americans.

I grew up in a small town of 1,400 people. My life was shaped by my two hardworking parents. My father was a coal miner and my mother was a nurse, and both worked hard to provide for our family. Yet, millions of hardworking Americans just like my parents have been struggling for far too long to earn a living and get ahead. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is about giving hardworking taxpayers and job creators the biggest boost this country has seen in a generation, letting millions of Americans keep more of their money to save, invest, or spend and achieve their version of the American Dream.

U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon is a Republican representing Indiana's Eighth District in Congress.

Courier and Press