ATA Executing Full-Court Press to Pass GOP Tax Scheme
ATA’s Spear Photo: Evan Lockridge
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ATA’s Spear Photo: Evan Lockridge
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The American Trucking Associations appears committed to leaving no stone unturned in its quest to see the tax-reform plan introduced on Capitol Hill on Nov. 2 passed into law and signed by President Trump.
In a Nov. 6 message to the trucking lobby’s members as well as in a Nov. 2 letter sent to every member of the House and Senate, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear “make is clear” that “early enactment of significant federal tax reform is critical for the U.S. trucking industry and for the nation’s economy in general.”
In his letter to Congress, Spear succinctly explains why passage of the GOP’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is ATA’s highest legislative priority. He said the bill embodies “three basic principles,” lowering tax rates on business income, broadening the tax base to render it more equitable, and significantly simplifying the enormously complex tax code, that “will all benefit motor carriers.”
He added that lowering the corporate rate will “free up cash to invest in newer, safer, cleaner, and more efficient equipment, while also helping carriers pay drivers more and make necessary investments in workforce development. Broadening the tax base to allow such rate reductions will eliminate special tax breaks enjoyed by industries that are more heavily dominated by large business entities than trucking. Tax simplification will alleviate the very considerable burden of compliance the current tax code imposes on small businesses.”
In his message to ATA members, Spear emphasizes that as desirable as the tax package is to trucking stakeholders, it is a “lengthy and detailed” piece of legislation so its provisions “could apply to businesses (i.e. size) differently.” That’s why he urges “ATA members to work with their legal or accounting teams for advice in assessing the likely effects …Read the rest of this story
