Narrative-Busting Data: Every Income Group Got a Tax Cut in 2018…Except Millionaires

As data continues to pour in, the facts are once again affirming what many of us have known for quite some time: The GOP-passed tax reform law, which was opposed by every single Democrat in Congress, has reduced taxes for a lopsided supermajority of Americans. Despite a torrent of disinformation and false messaging from the collective Left, the overwhelming majority of US taxpayers saw their federal tax burden reduced in 2018. Even the New York Times fact-checked this claim and found the Democratic mantra to be inaccurate. Now, based on the latest available numbers from the IRS, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation confirms that the Left’s deceitful talking points aren’t just misleading — they’re actually the opposite of the truth:

Critics of the TCJA have claimed that the law’s tax cuts only benefit high-income individuals and businesses. However, the visual below shows that total tax liability fell for all income groups except those earning over $1 million in 2018…The initial data shows that the TCJA expanded the use of several credits and deductions, made the standard deduction more favorable than itemizing, reduced tax refunds, and lowered taxes for most Americans.

In every single group, the green bar is lower than the blue bar, including for working and middle-class Americans. Only the super rich, those making more than $1 million annually, have seen a very slight increase, on average. Compare that to the rhetoric surrounding the law. The gap between the political spin and the actual results is staggering. As many supporters of the law pointed out during the public debate, the reason this law would benefit so many Americans was that it doubles the standard deduction, which was already being used by a large majority of filers. As expected, the number of people choosing to take advantage of the increased standard deduction (as opposed to itemizing) has increased dramatically:

One of the most significant changes introduced by the TCJA was the expansion of the standard deduction. The standard deduction increased from $6,500 to $12,000 for single filers, and from $13,000 to $24,000 for those married filing jointly, in 2018. This change had a significant impact on the ease of filing for many taxpayers, as taking the standard deduction simplifies the tax filing process. As shown below, the percent of taxpayers who itemized went down at all income levels. Overall, the percentage of the population that itemizes decreased from 30 percent to 10 percent.

(Read more from “Narrative-Busting Data: Every Income Group Got a Tax Cut in 2018…Except Millionaires” HERE)

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