Trump’s Tax Plan Is A Con That Benefits Corporations And The Wealthiest Americans

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:13 pm

Donald Trump unveiled a tax plan that is a massive con job. The plan doesn’t benefit the poor and middle class. Trump’s vision for taxes is a windfall for corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Politico’s Danny Vinik summed up who the big winners are under Trump’s plan, “Who would be the winners of the Trump tax plan? The rich. The top tax rate falling from 39.6 percent to 25 percent will give them a huge windfall, as will eliminating the AMT, the estate tax for their heirs, and the Obamacare surtax on capital gains and dividends. The huge cut in the corporate income tax will also benefit the well-off. Even worse: Trump doesn’t say what we will do with the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a financial lifeline for low-income Americans. Eliminating it would cause significant hardship for the poor—while also going against the current political agreement around the effectiveness of the EITC. (The campaign didn’t return an email asking for more information.)”

Trump’s plan, like every other Republican tax cut for the rich, blows a hole in the deficit to the tune of $2.3 trillion.

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The Republican candidate claims that people earning less than $25,000 won’t pay any federal income taxes, but according to the IRS, 76% of people who are earning $25,000 or less already pay no federal income taxes. In reality, Trump isn’t giving anything to people who earn $25,000 or less that they don’t already have. Eighty-three percent of people who earn less than $30,000 are already not paying federal income taxes.

Donald Trump is trying to disguise a plan that gives the rich a big tax break as having something for everyone. What Trump left out of his press conference is what he will do with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

The chart below shows that Trump’s plan would take money away from low and middle income people:

In 2014, people earning up to $47,300 paid a net negative percentage in federal income taxes. By bringing them up to zero, as Trump proposes, his tax plan will be costing them money.

It is likely that Trump’s plan reduces the federal income tax rate to zero for lower income Americans, but also takes away their tax refunds. Trump’s plan would leave lower income workers with less money while giving the wealthy and corporations a wave of tax breaks.

In other words, Donald Trump has dressed up the same old failed Republican tax cuts for the rich in the disguise of lower tax rates for all.

The media is helping Trump con voters by running with headlines about raising taxes on the wealthy. However, Trump’s plan is designed to benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

Donald Trump’s “populist” tax plan helps the wealthy and corporations while giving little to everyone else. It’s a scam, and our lazy media is helping Trump fool hard working Americans.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association