When The United States Senate passed the American Jobs and Tax Act at the end of December, many headlines decried the fact that the legislation would benefit big business, but a new report from CNBC suggests entrepreneurial types, and independent contractors, in particular, are also seeing a positive impact.
You see, under the new law, independent contractors and other gig economy workers (ie: Uber and Lyft drivers, contract truckers, and home healthcare professionals) can deduct “20 percent of their income from their taxable income before paying the new lower tax rates.”
This news comes at a particularly good time. As technologies like artificial intelligence and automation take over, more and more people are striking out on their own and pursuing their own career interests. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Intuit (the makers of TurboTax software) found that by 2020, over 7.6 million Americans will be working as part of the gig economy.
While independent contract work has its benefits, the lack of health insurance, a retirement plan, and other similar perks associated with traditional jobs makes pursuing this kind of a career daunting for many. These new tax cuts are a step in the right direction and can provide individuals with lower incomes the opportunity to save and ultimately invest in their futures.