Three months ago, President Donald J. Trump spoke before men and women of the American Trucking Associations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At the time, he had good news to report on the economy, but Congress was still working to send tax reform legislation to his desk.
“We want lower taxes, bigger paychecks, and more jobs for American truckers and for American workers,” the President said to applause. “We need a tax system that is fair to working families and that encourages companies to stay in America, grow in America, spend in America, and hire in America.”
On January 18, 2018, he returned to Pennsylvania—with even better news to share. Less than a month after the Tax Cuts Act became law, nearly 200 companies have issued bonuses, raised their minimum wage, planned investments, or donated to charity as a result of lower taxes.
Some of the country’s largest corporations are sharing the benefits of tax reform with their employees and their communities:
- Walmart raised its minimum wage to $11 an hour and issued bonuses up to $1,000.
- Fiat Chrysler issued $2,000 bonuses and now plans to build a Ram factory near Detroit, Michigan, with production set to start in 2020.
- BB&T raised its minimum wage from $12 to $15 an hour and issued $1,200 bonuses.
- Southwest Airlines issued $1,000 bonuses and donated $5 million to charity.
- Comcast issued $1,000 bonuses.
- Fifth Third Bank raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour and issued $1,000 bonuses.
- JetBlue issued $1,000 bonuses.
- U.S. Bank raised its minimum wage to $15, issued $1,000 bonuses, and donated $150 million to the U.S. Bank Foundation.
- Wells Fargo raised its minimum wage to $15.
See the full list of companies announcing good news, courtesy of Americans for Tax Reform.
In addition to making U.S. businesses more competitive on the global stage by lowering America’s corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivers substantial relief for working families through cuts on the individual side. For families with children under 17 years old, the child tax credit was doubled to $2,000. The Obamacare individual mandate—a costly tax that primarily hits lower-income Americans—was repealed, as well.
Read more about the first overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years.
