Do Democrats really want to repeal tax cuts for Americans?
From The Hill:
Former Vice President Joe Biden made it clear: "First thing I'd do is repeal those Trump tax cuts." Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) seconded the motion, saying she would repeal the tax cuts on "day one." Mayor Bill de Blasio has attempted to raise taxes on high earners in New York City.
But were federal income taxes actually cut? Is the Treasury Department actually collecting lower amounts of income taxes?
That's not what the department's own figures suggest. Each month, Treasury issues a report detailing its collections of personal income, corporate, and other taxes. Biden, Sanders, Harris, and Warren may not care to acknowledge it, but individual income tax receipts are actually going up.
(It's worth noting that the federal fiscal year ends in October, not December.)
$ Millions YTD |
|||
Federal Income Taxes |
Corporation Taxes |
||
2019 |
1,056,637 |
112,676 |
|
2018 |
1,050,601 |
120,775 |
|
2017 |
944,710 |
159,955 |
That's probably why the candidates tend to lump together taxes on individual and corporate incomes. Corporate income tax receipts are down since the December 2017 passage of the act.
Middle America, of course, might just conclude that the boom in hiring and the increase in wages, triggered in part by the Act, are worth it.
The president's communications staff might want to point this out.
Elliot Eisenberg holds a Master's degree in economics and was once an award-winning business writer.