Schumer: New Study Shows as Time Goes on, Middle Class Sees Taxes Go Up, Wealthy Reap Greater Giveaways

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today released the following statement regarding the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s (ITEP) new report indicating the richest Americans will benefit most from the GOP tax plan:

“As time marches on, the rich get richer while the tax burden on the middle class only gets heavier.

“By the time the Republican tax plan takes effect, millions of middle class families will see their taxes go up, while the richest 1% will rake in even more of the tax giveaways.

“Republicans should take off the rose-colored glasses, use honest math and be truthful to the American people about the vanishing middle class tax cut in their bill.”

Background:

ITEP: Richest Americans Benefit Most from The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was introduced on November 2 in the House of Representatives, would raise taxes on some Americans and cut taxes on others while also providing significant savings to foreign investors. Of those tax cuts that would benefit Americans, nearly a third would go to the richest one percent in 2018, and by 2027 that fraction would rise to nearly half.”

…

“Some of the provisions in the House bill that benefit the middle-class — like lower tax rates and fewer brackets, an increased standard deduction, and a $300 tax credit for each adult in a household — are designed to expire or become less generous over time. Some of the provisions that benefit the wealthy, such as the reduction and eventual repeal of the estate tax, become more generous over time.”

…

“The middle 20 percent of income-earners in America, the group that is quite literally the “middle-class,” would receive 10 percent of the benefits in the U.S. in 2018 and just 8 percent of the benefits in 2027.  In other words, in 2027 the middle fifth of Americans would receive only one sixth of the benefits received by the richest one percent of Americans.”

…

“Some households in every income group would face a tax hike under the bill. For example, in 2018, 8 percent of households in the middle fifth of the income distribution would face a tax hike, rising to 21 percent of these households in 2027. This would occur because several provisions in the bill raise revenue by repealing or limiting tax breaks that benefit the middle-class, and for some households the loss of these tax breaks would not be offset by the new tax breaks introduced in the bill.”