WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) released the following statement today after voting against two fiscally-irresponsible bills by the House Republican Majority to permanently extend certain tax credits. The first bill (H.R. 4453) permanently extends the five-year recognition period for built-in gains of an S-corporation, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates would add $2 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. The other measure (HR 4457) permanently allows businesses to deduct up to $500,000 of equipment costs in a year, which CBO says would increase the deficit by $73 billion over the next decade.
“I strongly support these tax credits, which allow our small businesses to invest and grow, and I believe we should make them permanent to give our businesses more certainty year-to-year. But we should do it in a way that doesn’t blast another hole in our budget. These bills fly in the face of a fiscally-responsible approach to reforming our outdated and overly complicated tax system. We need comprehensive tax reform that simplifies the tax code while raising revenue to support economic investment now and our fiscal health for years to come. We have made real progress in addressing our nation’s deficit in recent years, and we cannot continue to support the unpaid-for tax credits that helped drive it up in the first place.”