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Information on President's October 6, 1975 Tax Reduction Proposals [Bill]
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1975-10-06
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Digitized from Box 16 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library ANNEX (*) Tax Rate Schedule for President's October 6, 1975 Tax Reduction Proposals (Married Taxpayers Filing Jointly) Taxable income : Present rates :Proposed rates bracket : (percent) : (percent) $ 0 $1,000 14 12 1,000 2,000 15 14 2,000 3,000 16 15 3,000 4,000 17 15 4,000 6,000 19 16 6,000 8,000 19 17 8,000 10,000 22 21 10,000 12,000 22 22 12,000 16,000 25 25 16,000 20,000 28 29 20,000 24,000 32 34 24,000 28,000 36 28,000 32,000 39 32,000 36,000 42 36,000 40,000 45 40,000 44,000 48 44,000 52,000 50 52,000 64,000 53 64,000 76,000 55 present 76,000 88,000 58 88,000 100,000 60 100,000 120,000 62 120,000 140,000 64 as 140,000 160,000 66 160,000 180,000 68 180,000 200,000 69 200,000 -- 70 Same Office of the Secretary of the Treasury October 6, 1975 Office of Tax Analysis NOTE: While some rates are increased in the higher brackets, taxpayers with income taxed in those brackets will benefit from rate reductions in the lower brackets and the increase in the personal exemption so that on balance the tax cut proposals will reduce taxes even for those affected by the increased rates. (*) ANNEXES PREPARED BY TREASURY DEPARTMENT OFFICE OF TAX POLICY AN X B Tax Rate Schedule for President's October 6, 1975 Tax Reduction Proposals (Single Taxpayers) Taxable income : Present rates :Proposed rates bracket : (percent) : (percent) $ 0 $ 500 14 12 500 1,000 1 15 13 1,000 1,500 16 15 1,500 2,000 17 15 2,000 3,000 19 16 3,000 4,000 19 17 4,000 5,000 21 18 5,000 6,000 21 19 6,000 8,000 24 21 8,000 10,000 25 24 10,000 12,000 27 27 12,000 14,000 29 29 14,000 16,000 31 31 16,000 18,000 34 18,000 20,000 36 20,000 22,000 38 22,000 26,000 40 26,000 32,000 45 32,000 38,000 50 38,000 44,000 55 44,000 50,000 60 50,000 60,000 62 60,000 70,000 64 70,000 80,000 66 80,000 90,000 68 Same as present law 90,000 100,000 69 100,000 -- 70 Office of the Secretary of the Treasury October 6, 1975 Office of Tax Analysis NOTE: While some rates are increased in the higher brackets, taxpayers with income taxed in those brackets will benefit from rate reductions in the lower brackets and the increase in the personal exemption so that on balance the tax cut proposals will reduce taxes even for those affected by the increased rates. ANNEX SIX-POINT UTILITIES PACKAGE Increase the investment tax credit permanently to 12 percent on all electric utility property except generat- ing facilities fueled by petroleum products. No change of the percent-of-tax limitation is involved. The increase in the credit is allowable only if construction work in progress is included in the utility's rate base and the benefit of the increase is "normalized" for ratemaking purposes. "Normalized" in this sense means reflecting the tax benefit for ratemaking purposes pro rata over the life of the asset which generates the benefit instead of recognizing the entire tax benefit in the year the utility's taxes are actually reduced. In the absence of normalization, the entire tax benefit would flow through immediately in the form of reduced utility rates for consumers, and no real economic benefit would result for the utility. Give electric utilities full, immediate investment tax credit on progress payments for construction of property that takes two years or more to build, except generating facilities fueled by petroleum products, without regard to the five-year phase-in required by the Tax Reduction Act of 1975. This new provision applies only if the regulatory agency includes con- struction work in progress in the utility's rate base for ratemaking purposes. -- Extend to January 1, 1981, the period during which pollution control facilities installed in a pre-1969 plant or facility may qualify for rapid five-year straight-line amortization in lieu of normal depre- ciation and the investment credit. Permit rapid five-year amortization of the costs of either converting a generating facility fueled by petroleum products into a facility not fueled by petroleum products or replacing a petroleum-fueled facility with one not fueled by petroleum. This amortization is in lieu of normal -- 2 - depreciation and the investment credit, and is available only if (i) its benefits are "normalized" for ratemaking purposes, and (ii) construction work in progress is included in the utility's rate base for ratemaking purposes. -- Permit a utility to elect to begin depreciation, during the construction period, of accumulated construction progress expenditures, generally the same expenditures as those which qualify for the investment credit construction progress payments under the Tax Reduction Act of 1975. Any deprecia- tion taken during the construction period will reduce the depreciation deductions available after the property is completed. This early depreciation will be available only if the ratemaking commission includes construction work in progress in the utility's rate base and "normalizes" the tax benefits for ratemaking purposes. Construction of generating facilities which will be fueled by petroleum products will not qualify for such depreciation. -- Permit a shareholder of a regulated public electric utility to postpone tax on dividends paid by the utility on its common stock by electing to take additional common stock of the utility in lieu of cash dividends. The receipt of the stock dividend will not be taxed. The amount of the dividend will be taxed as ordinary income when the shareholder sells the dividend stock and the amount of capital gain realized on the sale will be decreased (or the amount of capital loss increased) accordingly. Dividend stock is deemed sold before other stock. FY 1976 COST = $600 million Annex D MAJOR 1975 INDIVIDUAL TAX REDUCTIONS The Tax Reduction Act of 1975 contains three temporary general individual tax cut provisions affecting most taxpayers. The first was the temporary one-shot rebate of a portion of 1974 tax liabili- ties, which was implemented through special rebate checks or larger refund checks last spring (cost: $8. 1 billion). Two other temporary structural changes enacted in 1975 may be summarized as follows: Standard deduction liberalization -- minimum standard deduction (low income allowance) increased from $1, 300 per return ($650 for married persons filing separately) to $1, 900 for a joint return or surviving spouse, $1,600 for single persons, and $950 for married persons filing separately, -- maximum standard deduction increased from 15 percent of AGI (with a maximum of $2,000 or $1,000 for a married person filing separately) to 16 percent of AGI (with a maximum of $2,600 for a joint return or surviving spouse, $2, 300 for a single person, and $1, 300 for married persons filing separately, -- effective for one year (generally 1975 calendar year) COST: $2.5 billion Personal exemption tax credit -- new $30 per exemption tax credit (except blind and aged exemptions) in addition to present law personal exemptions -- effective for one year (generally 1975 calendar year) 1 COST: $5. 3 billion The approximate $8 billion of tax reductions effected by the standard deduction liberalization and the personal exemption tax cut were reflected in withholding tax reduction over a eight-month period. Thus, the amount of tax cuts necessary to annualize the 1975 Act with- holding tax reductions over a 12-month period would be approximately $12 billion. ANNEX E Income Distribution of President's Tax Reduction Proposal at 1975 Levels of Income (billions of dollars) Adjusted gross : Tax liability : Proposed : Tax : Percentage : Percentage income class : based on : 1976 tax : reduction : distribution of : reduction in ( : 1972-74 law : liability : : tax reduction tax liability 1/ $ 0 - $5,000 2.0 0.8 1.2 5.8 61.3 5,000 - 10,000 14.1 9.1 5.0 24.2 35.3 10,000 - 15,000 23.1 17.6 5.5 26.6 23.8 15,000 - 20,000 23.7 19.5 4.2 20.3 17.7 20,000 - 30,000 28.0 24.7 3.3 15.9 11.7 30,000 - 50,000 16.9 15.9 1.0 4.8 5.8 50,000 - 100,000 12.1 11.7 0.4 1.8 3.2 100,000 + 9.4 9.3 0.1 0.5 0.8 TOTAL 129.4 108.7 20.7 100.0 15.9 Office of the Secretary of the Treasury October 6, 1975 Office of Tax Analysis ( Based on unrounded liability figures. NOTE: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. ANNEX F Maximum Levels of Tax-free Earned Income for 1976 Under the President's Tax Reduction Proposal (rounded to nearest $10) ( : Maximum tax-free earned income 1/ : Poverty income levels 2/ Filing status : 1975 : 1976 : 1975 : 1976 1 Single no dependents 2,560 2,800 2,790 2,970 Married, joint return no dependents 3,830 4,500 3,610 3,850 - dependent 4,790 5,500 4,300 4,570 2 dependents 5,760 6,500 5,500 5,850 3 dependents 6,720 7,500 6,490 6,900 4 dependents 7,670 8,500 7,300 7,770 Single, over 65, no dependents 3,310 3,800 2,580 2,750 Married, joint return, both over 65 no dependents 5,330 6,500 3,260 3,460 ( Office of the Secretary of the Treasury October 6, 1975 Office of Tax Analysis Y For taxpayers not eligible for the earned income credit. 2' Underlying Consumer Price Index: for 1975, 161.2; for 1976, 171.5.