Economic Illiteracy on Tax Cut

Taxes were cut under the Trump plan. However, because of how it was done, some folks out there are pushing the lie that Trump actually raised taxes on everyone but the rich.

Here is yet another example, this time from Reuters.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Only one in five U.S. taxpayers expect to pay less income tax this year as a result of the tax reform law passed in 2017 by Republicans who promised big savings for everyday Americans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday.

The tax overhaul lowered federal income tax rates for individuals as well as for corporations, but it also capped certain deductions, such as for state and local taxes, which could mean that some people will wind up paying more.
The March 6-11 survey found about 21 percent of adults who had either filed their taxes or planned to said “the new tax plan that Congress recently passed” would let them pay less this year; about 29 percent said they would pay more; 27 percent said there would be no impact; 24 percent said they were not sure.

Link: Few Americans see savings from Trump’s tax reform: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Did you note the deception that is the premise of this article? It’s subtle. The verbal sleight of hand is this, the only federal taxes you pay or don’t pay are solely determined on whether or not you get a tax refund on April 15th. If you get a refund then the tax cut is good for you but if you write a check then you are paying more taxes and thus you are getting screwed once again by the Republicans. This article totally ignores whether you got to keep more of your money each month last year (once the new tax withholding tables were enacted) or on the whole paid less than the previous year. To reduce the value of the tax cut down to whether you get a refund on April 15th is deception and ignorance. This is economic illiteracy.

This ladies and gentlemen will be one of the Democrat’s chief arguments against Trump in 2020. Not whether on the whole you got to keep more of your money and really did pay less but instead whether your refund was larger after the tax cut. Talk about economic illiteracy and low information voters…