Renewing tax cuts is an easy win for everyone

As anyone who has to balance a monthly budget, especially for a family with multiple mouths to feed, is well aware, prices have steadily climbed for years on end.  Since January 2021, inflation has driven costs of everyday life sky-high. In Colorado, we’ve paid an average $1,300 more per month for regular goods and services; that equals out to more than $43,000 in additional costs.

No doubt you already know this as you’ve watched the price of gas, groceries, and other staples skyrocket. At the same time, real wages have decreased as compared to mid-year 2020.  Thanks to the legacy of “Bidenomics” Latino families are facing the highest cost of living increase in a generation. So what can be done about it?

While there are numerous reforms that could help ease the cost-of-living crisis, one of the most urgent, and simple, ways that Congress can assist struggling families is to renew President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax cuts that are set to expire this year. Signed into law in 2017, these cuts saved the average family of four nearly $2,000 each year.

While these savings unfortunately do not balance out the cost of inflation, they have played a vital role in helping struggling Coloradans keep food on the table and the bills paid. If allowed to expire, Coloradans are in for a tax hike to pre-2017 levels, the largest tax increase in our history in the middle of an already painful cost of living crisis where Americans are making less and everything costs more.

The average Colorado family is looking at a hike of more than $3,600. Not only would a failure to renew these cuts lead to more direct taxes for Coloradans, but it would also lead to increased taxes on the vital businesses that employ millions of Coloradans, leading to an estimated job loss of over 19,000 jobs in Colorado alone.

…Orginally posted in El Comercio de Colorado