East Idaho Times

During last week’s presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed to be the only candidate with a plan to help working-class people. However, when given the opportunity to outline her economic vision, she avoided policy specifics, using red herrings about billionaires and big corporations. She stated that the 2017 Trump tax cuts were “tax cuts for billionaires.”

This rhetoric was meant to distract voters from reality — her tax plan would result in tax hikes for most people, whereas Republican tax reform reduced taxes for people of all income groups.

Harris and Democrats still need to answer a fundamental question: Will they allow the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to expire and inflict multitrillion-dollar tax hikes on the middle class?

While anti-billionaire rhetoric may sound good on the campaign trail, the reality is that the TCJA changed individual provisions of the tax code to allow taxpayers of all incomes to keep more of their money. Unless Democrats join Republicans in extending these popular provisions, people will face a more than $4 trillion tax hike in 2026, the largest in U.S. history. The middle and working classes, those making under $400,000 per year, will be hit hardest.

Despite Democrats’ continued mischaracterizations, the TCJA provided a tax break to 80% of people, and middle-class taxpayers received the largest proportional benefit of the cuts. Under the improved tax system, high-income earners paid a greater share of total taxes than before the law’s enactment.

If the TCJA expires next year, the Tax Foundation estimates that a single mother of one making $30,000 per year will pay more than $1,000 in higher taxes. A family of four making a median household income of $75,000 is estimated to face a tax increase of more than $1,500.

In addition to lowering rates, the TCJA helped low- and middle-income families by doubling the standard deduction and simplifying the tax filing process. Before TCJA, 47 million taxpayers itemized their deductions. With a larger standard deduction, fewer than 15 million people itemize now; about 9 in 10 taxpayers take the standard deduction instead.

The law also significantly reduced the impact of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which required some families running small businesses to calculate their liability twice. Prior to TCJA's enactment, over 5 million taxpayers were affected by AMT compared to around 200,000 afterward. This simplification alone saved taxpayers an estimated $4.6 billion in compliance costs.

The TCJA also expanded child tax credits by doubling them from $1,000 to $2,000 for working families and increasing refundability for lower-income earners while linking benefits to work.

By doubling child tax credits and increasing standard deductions while lowering rates Republicans provided targeted relief primarily benefiting middle-class earners who saw average rate reductions up by approximately 17%.

Critics argue that TCJA created loopholes favoring top earners but it actually limited certain deductions such as state/local taxes effectively subsidizing high-tax states like California/New York residents.

Post-TCJA economic growth benefited workers across demographics with real median household incomes rising over $5k pre-pandemic; lowest earners saw largest wage gains along historically low unemployment rates among Black/Latino voters/non-college graduates.

As Congress prepares for upcoming debates regarding future taxation policies preserving proven beneficial elements within existing frameworks remains crucial ensuring broad-based economic opportunities continue reaching diverse population segments including historically disadvantaged groups

Democrats have pledged not raising taxes below thresholds adjusted currently around ~487K USD yet allowing reforms lapse imposes potential multi-trillion dollar burdens impacting vast majority households significantly

Senate Republicans aim preventing massive hikes supporting American families/jobs through legislative efforts while awaiting clear commitments from opposing party members/presidential nominees toward shared objectives moving forward into election cycles ahead

Mike Crapo is a U.S senator representing Idaho serving ranking member role within Senate Finance Committee overseeing fiscal policy matters nationwide

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