I came to Washington as a businessman and a CPA to reform our broken tax code and to protect hard-working American taxpayers. On December 18th my tax bills aimed at relieving the tax burden, preventing political targeting, and fighting tax fraud were signed into law- an important first step forward in my efforts.
These legislative victories for taxpayers were included in the tax extenders package, known as the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act. The PATH Act permanently extends several major provisions to the tax code, providing stability for businesses and individuals, and most importantly opening the door to economic growth in 2016. Previously, these measures had to be extended on a short-term basis by Congress, creating uncertainty every year. The PATH Act will prevent tax increases, grow our economy, and help American taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned dollars.
Two important extenders that were made permanent include the R&D (research and development) tax credit and small business expensing. In addition, the PATH Act included a bill I introduced with my colleagues from the Bipartisan Working Group - the Information Reporting Simplification Act. This bipartisan, common sense legislation relieves unnecessary tax compliance burdens by providing a safe harbor eliminating the need to correct minor errors on tax forms that have de minimis impact on the tax liability outcome. It will help to prevent businesses and individuals from wasting time and money to re-file their tax returns.
Another bill I championed that was included in the PATH Act is the Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act. If an IRS employee is targeting individuals for their political ideologies, then, under this law, they are subject to termination for this offense. Lastly, core components from my legislation - Stolen Identity Refund Fraud Prevention Act of 2015 – were included as well. This legislation will reduce tax-related identity theft. This past tax season, someone used my stolen personal information and filed a fraudulent tax return in my name, claiming a refund. I have heard similar stories from American taxpayers; we need to curb this growing threat to protect hard-working Americans.
I am proud that the measures I introduced to protect Americans are now law; it is a great win and first step for American and Ohioan taxpayers. Moving forward, I will continue my efforts in reforming our tax code, growing our economy, and protecting the citizens of our great state of Ohio, and our nation.
If you would like to know more about my thoughts on this issue or others, please visit my website at renacci.house.gov or call my Washington office: 202-225-3876, Wadsworth office: 330-334-0040, or Parma office: 440-882-6779. I also encourage you to subscribe to my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages to get updates on my work in Washington and the 16th District.