Spotlight on the Trump Tax Scam

The Republican tax bill, HR.1,The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, was released on Nov. 2nd and the GOP is hoping to rush the bill through Congress with a vote in the House by next week and Senate passage soon after. This bill is a reverse Robinhood proposal that takes money from the poor and middle class to support huge tax reductions for the ultra-rich and for multi-national corporations.
We can’t stress this enough: so much of what we care about is on the chopping block in the #TrumpTaxScam. Here’s a few of the things that the GOP is proposing just to give themselves and their millionaire and billionaire friends a tax cut:
  • Penalize those with debt… and make them pay more: People with medical or student loan debt would no longer be able to deduct those expenses from their taxes.
  • Exacerbate wealth inequality: The bill gives huge tax cuts to the wealthy by phasing out the estate tax, repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, and limiting the tax rate on income earned by hedge funds, private law firms, and the Trump Organization. The bill also slashes the corporate tax rate.
  • Attack immigrants: More than 5 million immigrant parents with US-citizen children would no longer be able to receive the Child Tax Credit. And some immigrants working legally in the US would lose access to the Earned Income Tax Credit.
  •  Punish states that did not support Trump: The proposal wipes away deductions for state and local income taxes and the mortgage interest deduction cap is halved. Residents of "blue states" with robust public services and expensive housing like MA, NY, and CA would pay a disproportionate share for this tax plan.
  • Eliminate incentives for job growth in rural and urban areas: The bill removes a tax credit that encourages businesses to invest in places hit the hardest by the recession -- mostly rural communities and urban areas. 
  • Add $1.5 trillion to the deficit: And once they balloon the deficit, they’ll use that as an argument to make deep, dangerous cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security in 2018.
House Republicans have already begun marking up their bill, and the Senate may introduce their bill this week. Just like TrumpCare, Republicans’ only chance to get this bill through is if we don’t make enough noise. But, if we show national, mobilized, local opposition to this scam before most members of Congress make up their mind, we can stop them in their tracks.

RECOMMENDED READING

Check out the articles and websites below for more information about the GOP tax proposals and see our Twitter account or website for updates on this fast moving process. (Don't use Twitter? You can read our tweets on the website - just scroll down to the bottom of the homepage.)

Recent Articles on the Tax Proposal:
GOP Tax Plan Hits Upper Middle Class Hard, and That's Bad for Mass Boston Globe
Republican Plan Would Raise Taxes on Millions New York Times
House GOP Tax Plan Robs from Middle-Class Students and Borrowers without Giving to the Poor Demos 
Doubling Exemption on Estate Tax, then Repealing It, Would Give Millions to Wealthiest Heirs  CBPP
Trump-GOP Tax Plan and Congressional Budget Plan Comparison Americans for Tax Fairness

Tax Policy Websites:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
Tax Policy Center TPC
Americans for Tax Fairness 
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy