Tax debate: Left vs Right. Who is deceiving us?
6/10/24
from The Gray Area:
6/10/24:
Beginning this week, and continuing through the rest of the year, we will be constantly hearing about the Trump Tax Cuts of 2017, which are due to expire next year, December 31, 2025. Congress is taking up whether to let them expire, modify them and let certain parts continue, or let the whole thing continue.
When these cuts were initiated in December 2017, Trump and the Republican Congress had anticipated that future Congress' would let the tax cuts continue because of their positive impact. As we listen to the debate the rest of this year, we will see the usual left and right opinions on whether those tax cuts were beneficial or not.
On the left, you see American Progress, giving a very detailed and academic definition of the negative impacts of the tax cuts going forward. Do you think this is to clarify the impact of the tax cuts for you, or to confuse you by illustrating how complicated the subject is, and, therefore, you need 'experts' to tell you what's right and wrong.
On the right, you see an article from Fox News giving you the five benefits of the tax cuts. A straightforward or biased review? Here are their 5 points:
- The average family of four saves roughly $2,000 a year. This means, sorry, Joe, repealing the bill would raise taxes for most families making less than $400,000. The House Budget Committee has estimated that the typical family will pay $1,500 more taxes annually if Biden repeals the Trump tax cut.
- The Trump tax cuts vastly simplified the tax code for the majority of Americans. A major feature of the bill was to double the standard deduction from $12,500 to $25,000. As a result, prior to the Trump tax cuts, about one-third of tax filers had to itemize their deductions, now 90% take the standard deduction.
- The Trump tax bill forces millionaires and billionaires in blue states to pay their fair share of taxes. The left hates this aaspect of the tax law.
- The Trump tax cuts raised revenues. After four years an analysis found that the policy changes actually raised more revenue in its first four years than the Congressional Budget Office predicted without the tax cut.
- The rich paid more, not less taxes after the Trump tax cut. Biden says continually that the major reason the deficit has exploded is that Trump cut taxes on the rich. Wrong. Five years after the Trump tax cuts, the IRS’ own data show the top 1% of earners in America saw their percentage of total income taxes collected rise from 40% to 46% of the total in 2022. This was the largest share of taxes paid by the rich ever.
At End of Trump Tax Cuts, Progressives See Leverage to Target the Rich