Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Donald Trump for putting in place policies that benefitted the wealthy during his first term in office.
“Donald Trump, when he was president, gave tax cuts to the richest, to billionaires and big corporations,” she said at CNN’s town hall Wednesday.
Facts First: This claim needs context. While the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Harris is referencing, benefited the rich far more than others, it did reduce taxes for most people, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
The 2017 law made many changes to the tax code, including temporarily lowering many individual income tax rates, notably the top rate from 39.6% to 37% for the highest earners.
The Tax Policy Center took a look at whom the law would help the most. It found that taxes would decline, on average, for all income groups.
Middle-income taxpayers earning between about $49,000 and $86,000 were expected to see a tax cut of about $800, on average, or 1.4% of their after-tax income, according to the analysis.
Still, more than 60% of the benefits were expected to go to those whose incomes are in the top 20%. More than 40% of the benefits were expected to go to those in the top 5%.
Those making between $500,000 and $1 million were expected to get an average tax cut of about $21,000, lifting their after-tax incomes by 4.3%, according to the center’s estimates. Those who earn $1 million or more would enjoy an average tax cut of about $70,000, raising their after-tax incomes by 3.3%.
Only a little more than a quarter of those in the lowest-income households would see their taxes reduced. Their tax cut would be about $200, on average. However, most would see little or no benefit.
