Tag: GOP tax cut for the rich

Millions of Americans could be stunned as their tax refunds shrink

Most received a tax cut in 2018, but their refunds won’t necessarily stay the same

Millions of Americans filling out their 2018 taxes will probably be surprised to learn that their refunds will be less than expected or that they owe money to the Internal Revenue Service after years of receiving refunds.

People have already taken to social media, using the hashtag #GOPTaxScam, to vent their anger. Many blame President Trump and the Republicans for shrinking refunds. Some on Twitter even said they wouldn’t vote for Trump again after seeing their refunds slashed.

The uproar follows the passage of a major overhaul to the tax code in December 2017, which was enacted with only Republican votes and is considered the biggest legislative achievement of Trump’s first year. While the vast majority of Americans received a tax cut in 2018, refunds are a different matter. Some refunds have decreased because of changes in the law, such as a new limit on property and local income tax deductions, and some have decreased because of how the IRS has altered withholding in paychecks.

View the complete February 10 article by Heather Long on The Washington Post website here.

How the GOP’s giant tax reform con was designed to trick American voters — and is now backfiring spectacularly

Even as the Republican Party pushed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act through Congress in December 2017, critics were pointing out that it was filled with tricks and gimmicks meant to obscure the fact that it was a massive giveaway to corporations and the wealthy.

Now that the act has been law for more than and a year, the extent of its deception is coming into focus.

Writing for Vox, Matt Yglesias explained that the online furor from many supporters of President Donald Trump now filing their taxes appears to be a direct result of some accounting chicanery from the IRS designed to make the law more popular.

View the complete February 6 by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

New poll finds overwhelming support for an annual wealth tax

A new poll is finding broad support for an annual wealth tax on people with assets of at least $50 million, underlining support for taxing the rich.

The Hill-HarrisX survey released Wednesday found that 74 percent of registered voters back an annual 2 percent tax on people with assets over $50 million, and a 3 percent tax on people with assets in excess of $1 billion.

The poll showed support for the idea among people of all ages and races and from both political parties.

View the complete February 6 article on The Hill website here.

GOP gave banks $21 billion tax cut — and they used it to fire thousands

 

Banks benefited the most from the GOP’s tax scam.

Mitch McConnel, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump and Mike Pence celebrating GOP tax cut for the rich bill. Credit: Official White House Photo

Well, we found one industry that benefitted from the Republican tax scam: U.S. banks.

According to Bloomberg News, major U.S. banks saw a $21 billion tax cut in 2018, beating the tax cut estimates the banks themselves projected they’d receive from the new law, all thanks to the Republican-passed tax bill.

And what did the banks do with that massive windfall?

View the complete February 6 article by Emily Singer on the Shareblue website here.

THE REAL STATE OF THE UNION: Auto Supplier: ‘This Is A Trickle-Down Effect’

Take a break from Trump and hear from regular Americans about the real state of our Union. Watch Mark Thornberry, who works at a General Motors supplier, talk about how everyone in his community has been hurt by recent layoffs at local manufacturing plants.

“It affects everybody. It’s not just GM. This is a trickle-down effect.” – Mark Thornberry, who works at a GM supplier

WATCH HERE

It’s Official: The Trump Tax Cuts Didn’t Pay for Themselves in Year One

Federal tax revenues declined in 2018 while economic growth accelerated, undercutting the Trump administration’s insistence that the $1.5 trillion tax package would pay for itself.

It’s time to put to rest any notion that President Trump’s signature tax cuts are paying for themselves. Anyone who says otherwise is lying with numbers.

A year after the $1.5 trillion tax-cut package took effect, economic growth has accelerated, just as Republicans promised it would when pushing the law through Congress. Growth appears likely to hit 3 percent for 2018, after adjusting for inflation, which is a full percentage point higher than the Congressional Budget Office forecast for the year in 2017. Not all of that increase is attributable to the tax cuts, but some of it is.

That’s good news for Republicans’ longstanding claim that cutting taxes would provide such an economic bump that additional tax revenue would flow in to make up for what was lost through lower tax rates.

View the complete January 11 article by Jim Tankersley on The New York Times website here.

One Year Later, the TCJA Fails to Live Up to Its Proponents’ Promises

On December 20, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed a new tax law, commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).1Since the fall of 2017, the legislation, which provides huge tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, has been consistently unpopular with voters.2 Its proponents, however, frequently pushed claims and promises that ranged from aggressive puffery to outright lies. A year after the law’s passage, the major promises made by the TCJA’s proponents have been exposed as hollow.3 Here is the reality of the TCJA’s impact thus far.

Tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy

Promise: “Any reductions we have in upper-income taxes will be offset by less deductions, so there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class.” – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, November 20164

Reality: The TCJA showered massive tax cuts on the richest Americans. The highest-earning 1 percent can expect tax cuts averaging more than $51,000 in 2018 alone—more than what the median American worker makes in a year.5 Even when considering the tax cuts as a percentage of income, the benefits for the richest far exceed those for the middle class. (see Figure 1) American voters have overwhelmingly recognized the tax bill as primarily a giveaway to the wealthy. President Donald Trump essentially admitted as much when he floated the idea of a 10 percent tax cut for the middle class only weeks before the 2018 midterm elections.6 The Administration has since dropped the idea.7

View the complete December 20 article by Andrew Schwartz and Galen Hendricks on the Center for American Progress website here.

Trump Lied To Americans About A New Middle-Class Tax Cut

Ahead of the midterm elections, Trump promised voters that he would propose a new tax cut for the middle class. It’s clear that was just another lie.

THEN: Trump promised voters a new 10% tax cut for the middle class.

Trump: “We’re going to be putting in a 10 percent tax cut for middle-income families.”

NOW: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is admitting Trump’s promise was just an election ploy.

Mnuchin: “I’m not going to comment on whether it is a real thing or not a real thing.”

The Trump Tax Law Is Not Delivering The Results Trump Promised

Trump promised his tax cuts would pay for themselves, boost economic growth, and raise wages. Instead, Trump’s tax breaks have blown up the deficit, failed to boost long-term growth, and left working Americans behind.

Corporations used their massive tax breaks for a record-high $1 trillion of stock buybacks, not to benefit their workers.

CNN: “Corporate America celebrated the first full year under the new tax law by rolling out a record-setting $1 trillion of stock buybacks.”

Morning Consult: “Twenty-three percent of registered voters said they noticed an increase in their paycheck this year as a result of the law, while 60 percent didn’t, according to a Dec. 4 poll conducted among 1,975 registered voters.” Continue reading “The Trump Tax Law Is Not Delivering The Results Trump Promised”

Trump Tax Law Update: Record Profits For Banks & Corporations, While Workers Lose Their Jobs

Trump and Republicans promised their massive tax cuts for the rich and big corporations would benefit workers, but that never happened. Here’s an update on the latest from the Trump tax law.

Corporate profit growth hit a 6-year high.

MarketWatch: “A torrid U.S. economy blazed a 3.5% pace of growth during the summer and boosted corporate profits to the highest rate in six years, fresh government figures show.”

Banks hit record-high profits.

Washington Examiner: “The U.S. banking sector reported record-high profits in the third quarter of 2018, thanks in large part to last year’s tax law.”

GM workers lost their jobs.

Detroit Free Press: “Congressional Democrats let loose on General Motors’ decision to close plants in Michigan and Ohio on Monday, saying that the company got millions in tax breaks heralded by President Donald Trump but that they haven’t saved workers.”