We need real tax reform, not just an extension of the Trump-GOP tax bill

By now, it’s crystal clear that the Trump-GOP tax law (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA) benefits corporations and the rich more than anyone else. But Republican leaders are pushing the idea that extending the law’s temporary provisions, which expire after 2025, would amount to a “middle-class tax cut.” 

And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested last week that some of those provisions are not so bad when she tweeted, “Dems want to strengthen the middle class tax cuts & make them permanent.”It’s unclear exactly what Pelosi has in mind. We do know that a debate over which parts of the law should be made permanent and which should expire as scheduled would be a waste of time because there is so little in the TCJA for working people. In fact, extending the act’s temporary changes would be nearly as skewed toward the wealthy as the tax law itself.

A recent analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the richest fifth of households will receive 71 percent of the benefits of TCJA this year. This is exactly why the law is unpopular. Working people understand that even if they receive some tax cuts, the law is mainly designed to help wealthy people. What about TCJA’s changes that expire after 2025? The Institute’s analysis found that these are nearly as bad — 65 percent of the benefits of extending these provisions in 2026 would go to the richest fifth of households.