Quick calculation shows tax bill is no tax cut for middle-class individuals in the aggregate [View all]

[rgbecker]

Currently corporations pay about 300 billion/year. A 40% tax rate reduction should result from the cut in rates from 35 to 20% (+ or -). If so, that reduction results in a revenue loss of 120 billion a year. The bill is reputed to result in only a 150 billion deficit per year. Special treatment for high income businesses like doctors, lawyers, and other privately held companies set up as partnerships and sole proprietorships and the drop in top rate easily sops up the remaining 30 billion difference, leaving nothing for you and me.

The promised savings from the doubling of the standard deduction will be negated by the ending of the personal exemptions leaving most with little to no cut. Those with children will gain a credit, but will lose the exemption for a small savings. Other than that, unless the tax tables are shifted quite a bit to higher marginal income levels, I'm not seeing that there will be a big change to peoples' withholdings from paycheck that will give the GOP any boost for next year's midterms.

As one said, "a tank of gas a month" at the cost of 13 million losing health care and the rest paying 10% higher premiums.