All eyes are currently on election season. But a threat is looming on the horizon that, regardless of who wins offices up and down the ballot, could spell disaster for Americans’ and North Carolinians’ tax bills and ability to provide for their families. 

Key tax breaks and spending controls will be expiring all at the same time — the debt ceiling and spending caps negotiated by this Congress and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. 

Take these major expirations together, and we’re barreling toward a fiscal cliff. It’s the biggest issue no one is talking about right now.  

According to a recent Public Opinion Strategies poll, 60% of Americans know nothing or barely anything about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expirations. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was a monumental piece of legislation that fixed major flaws in the tax code and has been an important driver of economic growth, creating thousands of jobs and adding billions of dollars to Americans’ paychecks. 

After its signing, more than nine out of 10 Americans saw either a tax cut or no change to their tax bills. Many businesses, large and small alike, announced new investment in the United States, bonuses and raises to employees, expansion plans, and more.  

Tax cuts equal economic growth; it’s that simple. 

Allowing those tax cuts to expire is essentially the same as a tax hike at a cost many North Carolinians won’t be able to handle on top of steady and destructive inflation. 

Since President Joe Biden took office and oversaw disastrous fiscal policies like the misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act, inflation has cost North Carolina families more than $26,000.  

Now picture the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax cuts expiring on top of that financial burden.

The average North Carolina family’s federal tax bill is estimated to rise by $2,265, more than half of which will be the result of this income tax hike. The tax increases on the thousands of businesses in the state will mean price increases on goods, inability to invest in the North Carolina business market, and worse, loss of jobs. 

Estimates show that expiration of pro-economic growth provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could cost North Carolina more than 24,000 jobs. 

North Carolinians thrived thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but we are going to struggle just to make ends meet if it expires. 

We, and the rest of the country, will suffer in the long term as well if Congress doesn’t address the federal debt limit and rein in out-of-control spending. A responsible Congress must raise the debt ceiling but also address Washington’s runaway spending. 

Raising the debt ceiling isn’t a solution; it simply slows the bleeding while we should be getting our financial house in order. Reining in our spending to be within our means decreases the amount we need to borrow and ensures resources go to the highest priority areas to keep our country safe and prosperous. 

Federal spending and debt get passed on to you and me one way or another, so it’s time to get them both under control. 

The solutions are simple though: less spending, lower taxes, and policies that promote growth and prosperity. 

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Americans have strong feelings about tax hikes — 90% of Americans oppose tax hikes, 76% say now is a bad time to increase taxes, and 72% believe letting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire is the same as a tax hike.  

We have a chance to turn that strong opposition to tax increases into direct action in November because the candidates you vote for are going to be tackling this issue in January 

Your tax bill is on the ballot. Best to know how much bigger or smaller it could be in January.