Sen. Sherrod Brown is co-sponsoring a bill that would stop a tax increase for middle-class families.
With the deadline to maintain a tax cut for working Ohioans looming, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown outlined legislation he co-sponsored that would stop a tax hike from hitting middle-class families. Brown urged his colleagues in a conference call, Wednesday, to extend and expand the payroll tax cut, putting $1,430 into the pockets of the average Ohio family next year.
“At a time when many families and businesses are still struggling, we must extend and expand this important payroll tax cut,” Brown said. “Families will have more money to spend on necessities like gas and food, and their mortgages and rent. Businesses will be able to hire additional workers, boosting the economy. This bill gives tax cuts to people who need them – and will use them. America’s middle class can’t wait for them any longer.”
The legislation would specifically provide a tax cut to 160 million workers by cutting the Social Security payroll taxes paid by employees and the self-employed on their wages and salary from 6.2 percent to 3.1 percent; slash the payroll tax for 98 percent of U.S. businesses by cutting the employer-side Social Security payroll taxes from 6.2 percent to 3.1 percent for the first $5 million of payroll; provide an incentive for businesses to hire new workers by eliminating the Social Security payroll tax paid by employers on the first $12.5 million of an employer’s increased taxable payroll for the 4th quarter of 2011 and $50 million in increased payroll for 2012; and impose a 3.25 percent surtax on modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million for both single filers and married couples filing jointly beginning December 31, 2012.
A county-by-county analysis shows the benefits for median-income families from a tax cut:
Fayette County: $1,166
Highland County: $1,239
Hocking County: $1,173
Jackson County: $1,064
Pickaway County: $1,461
Pike County: $1,208
Ross County: $1,292
Vinton County: $1,063
The legislation is being debated in the Senate this week.
