Competitive, pro-growth tax policy is essential to growing the economy, raising wages for workers, and improving the standard of living for all Americans.
Lawmakers can advance growth-oriented tax policies this year and avoid the largest tax increase in American history, which will otherwise occur when key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expire at the end of 2025.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act empowers local businesses, fostering economic growth and creating job opportunities in communities across America. The most comprehensive tax reform legislation since 1986, TCJA significantly reduced and simplified the federal income tax burden for American families and workers and modernized the taxation of business income.
The U.S. Chamber led nearly 500 business organizations in urging Congress to permanently extend the TCJA pro-growth tax reforms that help workers and businesses achieve their American dream.
“Higher taxes decrease spending power, depress wages, discourage investment in job-creating projects, and drive companies to relocate to more competitive markets overseas, taking jobs and economic activity out of the U.S., Chamber President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark said in her 2025 State of American Business address, as she outlined what’s at stake if Congress cannot pass legislation to extend pro-growth tax provisions.
NEW POLLING: American Voters Support Permanent Tax Relief
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Why It Matters
Sixty percent of lawmakers were not in office when Republicans passed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and it’s critical they understand what these policies will mean for the people they represent. That’s why the Chamber has been educating policymakers through a rigorous campaign leveraging policy recommendations, polling, first-hand business stories, and research, together with the support of over 500 business voices.
As part of the Chamber’s Growth and Opportunity Imperative for America, we are calling on policymakers to support pro-growth tax policies that will help achieve the goal of at least 3% economic growth annually, creating opportunities for American workers and businesses to grow and thrive.
To get there, we are advocating for Congress to focus on:
- Preserving Competitive Business Tax Rates: Maintain our globally competitive 21% corporate income tax rate and permanently extend the 20% deduction for pass-through business income (section 199A).
- Restoring a Pro-Growth Business Tax Base: Reform our business tax base to allow a deduction for research and development (R&D) expenses, full capital expensing for certain business assets, and a growth-oriented interest deductibility limitation.
- Maintaining a Competitive U.S. International Tax System: Pursue comprehensive, industry-neutral solutions to maintain a pro-growth and globally competitive U.S. business tax system for both U.S. companies operating abroad and foreign companies investing in the United States.
The Big Picture on Tax Policy
What Businesses Are Saying
When Main Street businesses have a competitive tax code under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, local economies grow and prosper, and workers across the country benefit from higher paychecks and more job opportunities.
What does a competitive tax code mean for small businesses?
“For us to make an investment in robotics, for example, as a small business, it's over a $1 million dollar investment. That is substantial and having a tax policy that helps us write that off quickly and use accelerated depreciation helps us reinvest back into our organization.”
— Natalie Kaddas, CEO of Kaddas Enterprises, a plastic fabrication company in Salt Lake City, Utah
Why should Congress extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
“I'm not concerned about competition. I'm not as concerned about the economy; I'm concerned about government regulation and overtaxing. Because when they take that kind of tax cut away from us, it will substantially decrease our ability to grow,”
—Larry Kidd, president and CEO of :hire, a staffing agency in Columbus, Ohio
What is the 20% deduction for pass-through businesses and why is it important?
“We work as part of a supply chain that supplies larger manufacturers in Minnesota and some other states throughout the country. It's a mix of small businesses and large businesses working together to create a supply chain. So, I know that for many of my customers and suppliers that the 20% pass-through tax deduction really made a difference.”
— Traci Tapani, co-president of sheet metal workshop Wyoming Machine Inc. in Stacy, Minnesota
