The numbers don't lie: Trump was good for the middle class.
Income data published by the IRS clearly show that on average all income brackets benefited substantially from the Republicans’ tax reform law, with the biggest beneficiaries being working and middle-income filers, not the top 1 percent, as so many Democrats have argued.
A careful analysis of the IRS tax data, one that includes the effects of tax credits and other reforms to the tax code, shows that filers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $15,000 to $50,000 enjoyed an average tax cut of 16 percent to 26 percent in 2018, the first year Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect and the most recent year for which data is available.
Filers who earned $50,000 to $100,000 received a tax break of about 15 percent to 17 percent, and those earning $100,000 to $500,000 in adjusted gross income saw their personal income taxes cut by around 11 percent to 13 percent.
By comparison, no income group with an AGI of at least $500,000 received an average tax cut exceeding 9 percent, and the average tax cut for brackets starting at $1 million was less than 6 percent. (For more detailed data, see my table published here.)
That means most middle-income and working-class earners enjoyed a tax cut that was at least double the size of tax cuts received by households earning $1 million or more.
What’s more, IRS data shows earners in higher income brackets contributed a bigger slice of the total income tax revenue pie following the passage of the tax reform law than they had in the previous year.
Meanwhile Biden's Build Back Better agenda includes tax-cuts for 2/3rds of rich people.
This week, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) released new estimates for how the Build Back Better Act will affect the tax burden of individuals at various points along the income spectrum. When including tax credits, the bill delivers a tax cut to low- and middle-class families as expected, while raising revenue from the very highest earners. Most of the revenue, and nearly all of the non-corporate revenue, comes from households making over $500,000 per year.
However, because Build Back Better would raise the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, it would cut taxes for the majority of very wealthy families as well. According to TPC, two-thirds of households making over $1 million per year would receive a tax cut under the Build Back Better Act. More than three-quarters of households earning between $500,000 and $1 million would also receive a tax cut, as would two-thirds of those earning between $200,000 and $500,000.
By comparison, about one-third of those earning more than $1 million per year and one-fifth of those earning between $500,000 and $1 million per year would face a higher tax burden. While the bill does not directly increase taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 per year, some percentage of households in every income group would end up with higher indirect tax burdens as a result of higher corporate taxes. TPC and other estimators believe corporate tax increases ultimately flow through to retirement accounts, wages, and other sources of income across the income spectrum.
When the indirect effects of corporate tax increases are excluded, the bill only increases taxes on 0.1 percent of households earning between $200,000 and $500,000 per year, 8 percent of those earning between $500,000 and $1 million per year, and 22 percent of those earning more than $1 million per year. All other taxpayers – including more than 70 percent of those making more than $1 million per year – will receive a net tax cut from the individual and payroll tax provisions in the bill.
The nominal size of that tax cut rises steadily with income, even after the $1 million income mark. Including the effects of the corporate tax changes, households earning less than $50,000 per year will receive an average tax cut of less than $800 in 2022 from the Build Back Better Act, while households earning between $200,000 and $500,000 per year will receive nearly $1,600 tax cuts. Meanwhile, households earning between $500,000 and $1 million per year would receive an average tax cut of more than $6,100, and households earning between $1 million and $4 million per year would receive an even larger tax cut of more than $7,300. In other words, the largest tax cuts in Build Back Better would go to households with millions of dollars of income, and likely tens of millions in wealth.
ROME, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 01: U.S. President Donald Trump plays a video of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Richard B. Russell Airport on November 01, 2020 in Rome, Georgia. With two days to go until election day, Donald Trump is campaigning in Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)