The Trump Tax Cut Wasn’t Just for the Rich
It was far from perfect, but it did boost middle-class incomes.
Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign website says, “Tax experts estimate that over the long run, 83% of Trump’s tax giveaway will flow to the top 1% of earners in this country.” That’s not quite fair to the president, though. While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was far from perfect, it did cut taxes on the middle class and fueled the economic growth that brought unemployment rates to half-century lows before the pandemic.
The 83% claim comes from a study by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and refers to rates in 2027, which is after almost all of the TCJA cuts of individual income taxes are slated to expire. A fairer benchmark is what would happen to taxes while the Trump cuts are still in place. In 2025, according to the Tax Policy Center, the top 1% would get 25% of the cut. That’s still a lot, but keep in mind that the top 1% also pay a lot.