Saving money for working Kansas families and small businesses.
On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law historic legislation that will lower taxes for everyday Americans. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act – also known as the Working Families Tax Cuts – is now law, and Kansans will see the benefit when they file their taxes. The bill not only implements new provisions for working Kansans, it also prevents the largest tax hike in history.
This year, Kansas families are estimated to receive a tax refund of about $4,000, and refunds are expected to be about $1,000 more than last year. In fact, families can earn up to $73,000 and have NO tax liability. Additionally, AARP estimates that the Senior Tax Deduction will result in an average saving of $1,320 per senior over age 65 making between $44,000 and $75,000. The bill is also estimated to help inflation-adjusted wage growth in Kansas of $3,400 to $6,100 over the next four years.
As a member of the Ways and Means Committee – the chief tax-writing committee in Congress – Rep. Ron Estes was instrumental in authoring and shaping the tax policy in the Working Families Tax Cuts.
Below are just some of the provisions that will benefit you and your family.
Preventing the Largest Tax Hike in History
In 2017, Republicans passed landmark tax legislation that reduced taxes for most Americans. Even the New York Times said, "Ever since President Trump signed the Republican-sponsored tax bill in December 2017, independent analyses have consistently found that a large majority of Americans would owe less because of the law. Preliminary data based on tax filings has shown the same."
Had Republicans not prevailed in passing the Working Families Tax Cuts, Kansas families would have faced massive increases. The Tax Foundation estimated that Kansans would see an average increase of $2,329 in 2026.
Tax Cuts for Families, Workers & Seniors
Makes the 2017 tax cuts permanent – protecting the average taxpayer from a 22% tax hike
Permanently increases the standard deduction claimed by about 94% of 4th District Kansas taxpayers
Permanently increases the Child Tax Credit for millions of families
$6,000 Senior Tax Deduction that will cover the costs of Social Security taxes for 88% of seniors, benefitting around 500,000 Kansans
No tax on tips, impacting about 6% of Kansas workers
No tax on overtime, benefiting around 27% of Kansans who regularly work overtime and about 64% of Kansas workers in occupations that are likely elibible for overtime
$1,000 “Trump Accounts” for children born after Jan. 1, 2026, to build future financial security
New access to Health Savings Accounts to lower costs for millions of Americans
Extended paid family and medical leave credit
New car loan interest tax deduction on American-made vehicle purchases
Enhanced 529 savings accounts to make education more affordable
New school choice tax credits to expand education opportunities (pending adoption by the governor)
Tax Cuts for Small Businesses
Permanently restores 100% immediate expensing for research and development based on Rep. Estes' bipartisan American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act
Expands and makes permanent the 199A small business deduction to 23%, impacting about 44,000 small businesses in Kansas, creating more than 1 million new Main Street small business jobs in the United States and generating $750 billion in economic growth at American small businesses across the country
Makes permanent and increases the doubled Death Tax Exemption for more than 2 million family-owned farms
Full expensing for new factories and factory improvements
Expands Opportunity Zones, unlocking more than $100 billion of investment and more than 1 million jobs for rural and distressed communities, including the 75 Opportunity Zones in Kansas
Repeals Democrats' 1099-K $600 IRS reporting threshold, cutting red tape and creating new opportunities in the gig economy
Increases the 1099-MISC threshold to $2,000, reducing the paperwork burden for small businesses and workers
Rep. Estes' Actions on the Working Families Tax Cuts
Just a little over a year after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed, Rep. Estes penned an op-ed for the Wichita Eagle about the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
In 2019, Rep. Estes introduced bipartisan legislation that would become the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act and would eventually be included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – also known as the Working Families Tax Cuts. The bill would encourage U.S. research and development and help make American innovators more competitive globally.
In December of 2023, Rep. Estes spoke to Tax Notes about the expired provision and published an op-ed in Newsweek unpacking the positive outcomes – for individual taxpayers and across the economy – made possible by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 and explaining how his bipartisan bill offers a solution to the expired R&D expensing provision that would help restore America’s dominance in R&D and secure American jobs.
In April of 2024, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania) named Rep. Estes chair of the newly formed U.S. Innovation Tax Team, one of ten working groups comprised of committee members to study key tax provisions from the 2017 Trump tax cuts that were set to expire in 2025.
Rep. Estes talked with innovators and manufacturers throughout Kansas in August and September and led a delegation with House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and then-Tax Team Vice Chair Michelle Steel (R-California) to Silicon Valley later in September to meet with U.S. innovators and stakeholders about the upcoming TCJA expirations.
During the final months of 2024, Rep. Estes penned an op-ed for Newsweek, saying that Americans voted for a new economic trajectory, and Congress should deliver.
At the beginning of this Congress, Rep. Estes, a member of the Budget Committee, delivered remarks on the House floor in support of the budget reconciliation bill.
