Trump Tax Cuts are Boon for the Rich, Borrowed Future for All

The new Republican “MAGA” Party’s key legislative accomplishment was passing the 2017 Tax and Jobs Act . It slashed income taxes and spread the spoils to corporations and every income group.

The Act cut taxes by $1 trillion, to be spent in the years 2018-2025. In 2026 individuals’ taxes will revert to their 2017 levels.

The $1 trillion was all borrowed, much of it from China, adding the loan to our national debt.

But did the MAGA tax cuts, as widely averred, really favor the middle and working classes? Let’s take a closer look at how the tax largesse was distributed by income group. The table reports what the conservative Tax Foundation found when it analyzed the 2018 tax decreases.

You’ll have your tax bill shaved by only 2.9% if your in the lowest quintile of incomes, 6.3% for incomes in the middle, and by almost 15% if you’re rolling in dough in the top 1%. In terms of dollars, the poorest 20% saves enough to treat their family to a hamburger dinner every month. The top 1% saves enough to buy another Rolls-Royce every year.

These tax decrease amounts are averages, with some folks getting more back and others actually paying higher taxes. In the 4th quintile, for example, the Tax Policy Center estimated that 12% of the filers saw an increase in their 2017 taxes, averaging $1,600 more than 2017. The percentage of families losing rather than gaining money was likely much higher in the Sixth Congressional District. Residents lost the ability to deduct much of their mortgage interest and state taxes, because each was capped at $10,000. Indeed, the pain caused by bewildering tax bills was an important factor in Democratic Sean Casten trouncing incumbent Republican Peter Roskam in the 2018 race for the Congressional District 6 seat.

But all good times must end, so by the end of 2026 the whole $1 trillion will have been spent and the higher tax rates will return in 2027. But rather than paying back the $1 trillion ourselves, we’ll pass it on to our children and grandchildren.

Looking to the future, in the 2024 Congressional District 6 Representative election, you can vote for Democrat Sean Casten or the candidate of the MAGA Republican “Borrow and Spend” party. Your choice, for you and for your descendants.