Jen Kiggans: The One Big Beautiful Bill’s Biggest Tax Cuts Benefited The Wealthiest, Giving Them Tax Cuts Three Times Greater Than For Working Americans

The One Big Beautiful Bill’s Biggest Tax Cuts Benefited The Wealthiest. “The One Big Beautiful Bill includes the largest tax cuts in U.S. history. Whether it’s actually ‘beautiful’ is in the eye of the beholder. At every income level taxes should subside. That’s a big selling point from President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans who pushed the law through Congress with no Democratic support. It will benefit everyone. But the biggest cuts go to the wealthiest taxpayers – the ones who pay the lion’s share of taxes. For most families the savings will be miniscule in comparison, in raw dollars and as a share of income. And millions will lose subsidized health insurance and other benefits. Critics see a plan that widens income inequality and, worse, offsets tax cuts for the wealthy with draconian spending cuts that hit lower-income households.” [Cronkite News, 7/16/25]

The House-Passed Republican Reconciliation Bill Extended The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Which Skewed In Favor Of The Wealthy By Providing Them Tax Cuts That Were Three Times Greater Than For Working Americans. “The tax provisions of the House Republican reconciliation bill double down on the failures of the 2017 tax law, which was skewed in favor of the richest people in the country, further eroded the nation’s revenue base, and didn’t produce the promised economic gains for working people.[1] Instead of changing course and prioritizing people with low and moderate incomes as House Republicans’ rhetoric about supporting hard-pressed working families would suggest, the House Republican tax bill only offers more of the same. The bill is heavily skewed to the wealthy: Under the bill, the top 1 percent of people would receive tax cuts three times the size of those for people with incomes in the bottom 60 percent, measured as a share of after-tax income. (See Figure 1.) The top 0.6 percent of people — the 1.2 million people with annual incomes above $1 million — would receive more total tax cuts than the 127 million people with incomes below $100,000. […] The bill extends and expands the 2017 tax law’s increase in the estate tax exemption, boosting the cut in estate taxes for the 1 in 1,000 wealthiest estates to $6.3 million.[3] Next year a couple could pass on an estate worth up to $30 million tax free, $1.7 million more than under a simple extension of the 2017 law.” [CBPP, 5/22/25]

CBS: “Researchers Have Said The Republican Bill Is Likely To Benefit Wealthy Americans At The Expense Of People Lower Down The Ladder.” “Like Penn Wharton, other researchers have said the Republican bill is likely to benefit wealthy Americans at the expense of people lower down the ladder. The measure would likely reduce the financial resources available to the lowest-earning 10% of U.S. households by $1,600 per year, or almost 4% of their annual income, according to a report published earlier this month by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. White House officials have previously questioned the CBO's scoring of the bill. But the highest-earning 10% of households would see a gain of $12,000 per year in resources, while middle-income households would see a gain of $500 to $1,000, the CBO projected. Its analysis is based on the bill's tax breaks, as well as reductions for federal programs and reductions in state funds for safety net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. In considering the impact of higher U.S. debt on future generations, the cost would come in the form of lower wages and higher costs, such as more expensive mortgages, Smetters said.” [CBS News, 6/26/25]