Article Summary –
Former President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to make elements of his 2017 tax law permanent and has proposed a new tax cut favoring wealthy individuals and corporations. However, while Trump claims that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 paid for itself, data from the U.S. Treasury Department indicates that adjusted federal revenue dropped between 2017 and 2018, only seeing a significant increase after Trump left office. Trump’s 2017 legislation, which was predicted to add between $1 trillion and $2 trillion to the national debt, has been critiqued for offering tax hikes or minimal cuts for working families while saving the wealthy and large businesses billions.
Trump’s Tax Plans Favoring Wealthy Individuals
Former President Donald Trump has expressed intent to make his 2017 tax law’s expiring provisions permanent. Plus, he announced on May 11 a substantial new tax cut favoring the wealthiest individuals and corporations.
“I’ll give you a Trump tax cut that benefits all classes,” he told rally goers in Wildwood, New Jersey. Despite promises in 2018 to significantly cut middle-class taxes, no concrete proposal was ever released.
Trump inaccurately claimed that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act paid for itself, although inflation-adjusted total federal revenue actually dropped between 2017 and 2018, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Trump’s Pledge and Reality
In 2016, Trump promised to cut middle-class tax rates by nearly one-third and eliminate the national debt. However, he instead increased the national debt by around $7.8 trillion and signed a tax legislation that highly favored the rich and big businesses.
Experts predicted the 2017 law would add $1 trillion to $2 trillion to national debt. A study found that the law’s corporate tax cuts increased the budget deficit by $100 billion annually.
Permanent Individual Tax Provisions
Trump and GOP allies still desire to make permanent the individual tax provisions, set to expire next year. The Congressional Budget Office estimated this would add another $4.6 trillion to the national debt over a decade. Michigan Republican Reps are co-sponsoring a bill to make such provisions permanent.
Trump’s proposal to further reduce tax cuts for the rich would increase government debt and result in higher interest payments on the money the nation borrows.
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