Dave Farber
2018-10-15 10:18:58 UTC
Date: October 15, 2018 19:11:46 JST
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] A New Study Shows White Families Getting Four-Fifths of Trump's Tax Cut
[Note: This item comes from friend Robert Berger. DLH]
A New Study Shows White Families Getting Four-Fifths of Trumpâs Tax Cut
Experts warn that last yearâs tax law will âsuperchargeâ racial disparities.
By HANNAH LEVINTOVA
Oct 13 2018
<https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/10/trump-tax-cuts-race-racial-impact-disparity/>
Under President Donald Trumpâs tax cuts, white Americans are the big winners, and the existing wealth gap between them and minority households will continue to grow. Thatâs the conclusion of a new report released this week on the racial implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the bill championed by Trump and passed by congressional Republicans in December 2017.
The report, from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the nonprofit Prosperity Now, is the first quantitative analysis of its kind. While a number of previous reports have noted that the vast majority of the $1.5 trillion doled out to taxpayers and businesses by the cuts will go to the wealthiest Americans, this newest study highlights how that dynamic affects minority families. After estimating taxes under the law for white, black, Latino, and Asian households across various income brackets, the authors conclude the law will âsuperchargeâ existing racial disparities in wealth âto an alarming extent.â
âHouseholds of color have less income and have less wealth than white households, in large part due to centuries of systemic racism,â says Meg Wiehe, ITEPâs deputy director and one of the reportâs authors. âSo inevitably a tax cut thatâs so expensive and so tilted to the top is furthering not just income inequalityâitâs also furthering racial inequity in income and in wealth.â
The authors found that nearly 80 percent of the $275 billion in tax cuts to individual households will go to white familiesâeven though whites make up just two-thirds of taxpayers. In dollar terms, white families will get about $218 billion in tax cuts, while black households will see about $14 billion and Latinos about $18 billion.
Black and Latino families make up about 22 percent of the US population, but account for nearly 30 percent of Americaâs poorest families, the authors note. As the benefits of the overall tax cuts skew toward the wealthiest Americans, the cuts end up disproportionately privileging white families.
The average annual tax cut received by white households, $2,020, is more than double the average cuts black and Latino families will receive. Asian families, who have the highest average income of any group, will receive the highest average tax cut, at $2,560. But low-income Asian families will see the least benefit from the 2017 tax cuts, even lower than their black and Latino counterparts: just $70 per household.
The report also shows how even among the very wealthiest households in Americaâthe top 1 percentâwhite families still do better. Immigrants and people from less affluent backgrounds who become rich are more likely to have fortunes rooted in income from work, but the law further entrenches tax advantages favoring income from investments, and also expands tax exemptions on estates, inheritances, and gifts. âThe bill was designed to benefit wealth over work,â Wiehe says.
Just last month, the House voted to approve a package of additional reforms, including an extension of individual tax cuts enshrined in the original 2017 law. While unlikely to pass the Senate, the reportâs authors point out that the move shows that Congress, if it so wanted, could rework the cuts to target benefits to lower- and moderate-income familiesâshrinking the racial wealth divide. The authors suggest expanding estate taxes or reforming breaks tied to homeownership so they better serve lower-income families.
âAs Congress continues to discuss enacting more tax cuts,â the authors write, âwe should be creating a tax system that is fair and equitable, that provides the most wealth-building support to those who need it most, that reflects true American values and that helps close the racial wealth divide.â
[snip]
Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp
-------------------------------------------Subject: [Dewayne-Net] A New Study Shows White Families Getting Four-Fifths of Trump's Tax Cut
[Note: This item comes from friend Robert Berger. DLH]
A New Study Shows White Families Getting Four-Fifths of Trumpâs Tax Cut
Experts warn that last yearâs tax law will âsuperchargeâ racial disparities.
By HANNAH LEVINTOVA
Oct 13 2018
<https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/10/trump-tax-cuts-race-racial-impact-disparity/>
Under President Donald Trumpâs tax cuts, white Americans are the big winners, and the existing wealth gap between them and minority households will continue to grow. Thatâs the conclusion of a new report released this week on the racial implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the bill championed by Trump and passed by congressional Republicans in December 2017.
The report, from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and the nonprofit Prosperity Now, is the first quantitative analysis of its kind. While a number of previous reports have noted that the vast majority of the $1.5 trillion doled out to taxpayers and businesses by the cuts will go to the wealthiest Americans, this newest study highlights how that dynamic affects minority families. After estimating taxes under the law for white, black, Latino, and Asian households across various income brackets, the authors conclude the law will âsuperchargeâ existing racial disparities in wealth âto an alarming extent.â
âHouseholds of color have less income and have less wealth than white households, in large part due to centuries of systemic racism,â says Meg Wiehe, ITEPâs deputy director and one of the reportâs authors. âSo inevitably a tax cut thatâs so expensive and so tilted to the top is furthering not just income inequalityâitâs also furthering racial inequity in income and in wealth.â
The authors found that nearly 80 percent of the $275 billion in tax cuts to individual households will go to white familiesâeven though whites make up just two-thirds of taxpayers. In dollar terms, white families will get about $218 billion in tax cuts, while black households will see about $14 billion and Latinos about $18 billion.
Black and Latino families make up about 22 percent of the US population, but account for nearly 30 percent of Americaâs poorest families, the authors note. As the benefits of the overall tax cuts skew toward the wealthiest Americans, the cuts end up disproportionately privileging white families.
The average annual tax cut received by white households, $2,020, is more than double the average cuts black and Latino families will receive. Asian families, who have the highest average income of any group, will receive the highest average tax cut, at $2,560. But low-income Asian families will see the least benefit from the 2017 tax cuts, even lower than their black and Latino counterparts: just $70 per household.
The report also shows how even among the very wealthiest households in Americaâthe top 1 percentâwhite families still do better. Immigrants and people from less affluent backgrounds who become rich are more likely to have fortunes rooted in income from work, but the law further entrenches tax advantages favoring income from investments, and also expands tax exemptions on estates, inheritances, and gifts. âThe bill was designed to benefit wealth over work,â Wiehe says.
Just last month, the House voted to approve a package of additional reforms, including an extension of individual tax cuts enshrined in the original 2017 law. While unlikely to pass the Senate, the reportâs authors point out that the move shows that Congress, if it so wanted, could rework the cuts to target benefits to lower- and moderate-income familiesâshrinking the racial wealth divide. The authors suggest expanding estate taxes or reforming breaks tied to homeownership so they better serve lower-income families.
âAs Congress continues to discuss enacting more tax cuts,â the authors write, âwe should be creating a tax system that is fair and equitable, that provides the most wealth-building support to those who need it most, that reflects true American values and that helps close the racial wealth divide.â
[snip]
Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=26461375
Unsubscribe Now: https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=26461375&id_secret=26461375-c2b8a462&post_id=20181015061913:C1743B5C-D063-11E8-9B10-94AD2445D61A
Powered by Listbox: https://www.listbox.com