The Trump-Republican Tax law has done little to help the Latino community

The Trump-Republican tax law is a huge giveaway to corporate executives and the wealthiest Americans, but it does little to help the Latino community. Despite Republicans’ promises, under the new law, Latinos find themselves without significant benefit.

Rather than helping Latino families get ahead, many of the benefits under the Republican tax law are reserved for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. According to UnidosUS, in 2019, an estimated 89% of Latino taxpayers will only get an average tax cut of $316.06, while the richest 1% of Americans receive an average tax cut of $55,190. Further, more than 14 million Latinos will lose an average annual deduction of more than $13,000 from the reduction of state and local tax deductions. And by 2027, 6 out of 10 Latinos will see their taxes increase. At the same time, many Americans will see their health care premiums increase thanks to Republicans’ sabotage of our health care system.

The Congressional Budget Office’s recent economic report details how the tax law will add $1.9 trillion to the United States’ deficits over the next decade. In order to offset this massive blow to the national debt that they created, Republicans are planning to gut programs that are essential to the Latino community, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped 4.2 million Latinos gain coverage - bringing the uninsured rate for the community to historic lows. By 2027, more than 35.5 million Latinos will see their taxes go up, by an average of $251 per year, thanks to expiration of the law’s individual tax provisions and the repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate. This tax bill puts in jeopardy many of the gains Latinos made under the ACA.

More than 1.3 million low-income Latinos will receive zero benefit from the nonrefundable expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC). The CTC is one of the largest single tax benefits for many working families, worth $1,000 per child.

UnidosUS concluded that changes to the tax code will not help Latino-owned businesses. Instead, by 2027, approximately half (2.1 million) of Latino businesses will experience a tax increase and more than 3.2 million Latino businesses (3 out of every 4) will lose an average of $300. Rather than passing a tax law that benefits small businesses and allows them to create jobs and grow, Republicans passed a bill that disproportionately benefits large corporations.