Congressman Nunes Introduces Business Tax Reform

This week, Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) introduced the “American Business Competitiveness Act” (H.R. 4377). This plan would reform the business tax code. It basically enacts a cash-flow tax for businesses, which would greatly simplify the calculation of tax and would make the code much more pro-growth.

Details of the plan:

• Cutting the corporate income tax to 25 percent;
• Limiting the top tax rate on non-corporate business income to 25 percent;
• Allowing businesses to deduct investment costs when they occur (full expensing);
• Eliminating most business tax credits and many deductions;
• Moving to a territorial tax system like most developed nations;
• No longer letting nonfinancial businesses deduct interest costs but no longer taxing them on interest receipts;
• Applying the same tax-rate limitation to individuals’ interest income as now applies to their capital gains and dividend income; and
• Eliminating the individual and corporate alternative minimum taxes (AMTs).

We found that the plan would reduce federal revenues by $1.6 trillion over a decade on a static basis once the plan is fully phased in. The plan would result in a 7.3 percent higher GDP, 6 percent higher wages, and 1.4 million new full-time equivalent jobs in the long run. The growth from this plan is the result of the drastically reduced cost of capital from both full expensing of capital investments and the lower business tax rates. The larger economy would mean that the plan would end up raising revenue (approximately $631 billion over a ten-year period).

Our full analysis is here.

The Nunes business tax reform plan reflects what is becoming the norm. The plan is very similar to what some presidential candidates have introduced during the 2016 presidential campaign. Governor Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, and Senator Rubio have released comprehensive plans that include the significant features of the Nunes plan: full expensing, a lower marginal tax rate on businesses, and the elimination of the interest deduction. Combined, these specific business reform proposals would be a huge improvement over the current tax code.