Greetings Folks,

For the past few weeks I’ve been following the GOP tax bill which is set to take effect in 2018, and after further research, I have far more concerns than ever before. Here are a few points, for those who may not be aware.

• This will be the first significant reform in the U.S. tax code since Ronald Reagan signed major legislation for corporations and individuals in 1986.
• The changes would go into effect in 2018, expiring in 2025, and will increase deficits by $1.46 trillion over the next decade.
• Corporate tax rates will be cut from 35% to 21%, with minimum tax for corporations being thrown out altogether.
• The tax plan would change federal income-tax brackets in 2018 but retain the current structure. The top rate would fall from 39.6% to 37%, while the 33% bracket would fall to 32%, the 28% bracket to 24%, the 25% bracket to 22% and the 15% bracket to 12%; the 35% and 10% bracket would remain the same.
• With roughly 70% of Americans claiming standard deductions when filing their taxes, their paychecks would increase.

Be sure to check out CNN’s list of other major changes you would need to know about with this upcoming tax law. What I’m still trying to figure out is how this plan will benefit the segment of the population who receive government assistance from programs that are funded with our tax dollars? Just take a look at my community, African Americans, for example.

• Trump’s tax plan will further divide the racial wealth gap, which would push the median African American household wealth to 0 in 35 years.
• With Trump’s plan also set to cut into both Medicare and Medicaid ($5 trillion in cuts), the 5 million African Americans on Medicare and 15 million using Medicaid would be severely affected.
• The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, has been repealed. President Donald Trump advised that “the individual mandate is being repealed. When the individual mandate is repealed, that means Obamacare is repealed. Because they get their money from the individual mandate.” And that means that over 4 million people will be thrown off of health insurance by 2019 and 13 million by 2027.

This tax bill looks to be beneficial to the upper echelon of Americans but not the working class, particularly poor. Which isn’t a surprise since capitalism is the be-all and end-all here. Food Stamps, Non-Profit Organizations, Pell Grants, and Social Security won’t be exempt either, so I’m just going to assume that President Trump is going to stay true to his word about “bringing back jobs” because help from the government seems to be out of the question at this point.

Let’s keep this conversation going.

Until Next Time…

 

 

 

 

(Sources)

Floyd, D. (2017, December 16). Trump’s Tax Reform Plan. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from https://www.investopedia.com/news/trumps-tax-reform-what-can-be-done/

Holidny , E., & Kiersz, A. (2017, December 6). How your tax bracket could change under the Senate’s tax plan, in 2 charts. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/senate-tax-plan-brackets-trump-tax-reform-two-charts-2017-11

Horowitz, J. (2017, December 20). 34 things you need to know about the incoming tax law. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/20/news/economy/republican-tax-reform-everything-you-need-to-know/index.html

Tucker, J. (2017, December 6). HERE’S HOW TRUMP’S TAX PLAN WILL BENEFIT AFRICAN AMERICANS (OR NOT). Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.blackenterprise.com/trumps-tax-plan-benefit-african-americans/

Wolf, Z. B. (2017, December 20). Donald Trump thinks he just quietly repealed Obamacare. Retrieved December 21, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/politics/donald-trump-thinks-he-tricked-everyone-into-repealing-obamacare/index.html