Washington, D.C. — Despite promises of middle-class relief, a new analysis from the Center for American Progress analysis finds that a handful of provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) funnel nearly $2.3 trillion in tax cuts mainly to the richest 10 percent of Americans, accounting for 70 percent of the law’s total deficit cost. Over the next decade, the top 10 percent will gain $14,000 in tax cuts per year, while the top 1 percent pockets more than $50,000 a year in tax cuts.
At the same time, the BBB cuts more than $1 trillion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and other health programs that low- and middle-income families rely on, an upward redistribution of income that is unprecedented in American history. CAP’s analysis shows that the law’s new corporate and business write-offs deliver roughly the same total business tax breaks as the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), even though the corporate rate remains at a low 21 percent.
“The Big Beautiful Bill is even more extreme than the 2017 Trump tax cuts,” said Corey Husak, director of Tax Policy at the Center for American Progress and author of the analysis. “It gives away more than $2 trillion to the top 10 percent through opening loopholes and giveaways for business owners, investors, and heirs, delivering a corporate tax windfall the same size as the last law—just hidden in a pile of tax write-offs this time.”
The largest giveaways to the top 10 percent include:
- Estate tax cut ($212 billion): Only the wealthiest 4,000 estates per year benefit, as the exemption rises to $15 million per person.
- Top marginal rate cut ($340 billion): A permanent rate drop from 39.6 percent to 37 percent will benefit less than 2 percent of taxpayers.
- Pass-through deduction ($737 billion): A two-tier system is created where business owners can pay lower rates than their employees, with half of the benefits going to millionaires and filers of less than $200,000 getting less than 15 percent of total benefits.
- Investor tax shelters ($58 billion): Tax-free gains are expanded through Opportunity Zones and Qualified Small Business Stock exclusions, with three-fourths of benefits going to people with incomes above $1 million.
- Corporate and international business tax breaks ($920 billion combined): Massive subsidies for offshore profits and investments deliver a second round of corporate windfalls, similar in size to the TCJA’s corporate cuts.
- Special-interest carveouts ($9 billion): This includes tax giveaways for banks, oil and gas drillers, real estate investment trusts, sound recording studios, and even spaceports.
These provisions overwhelmingly benefit owners, executives, and high-paid professionals. Research on the 2017 tax law found that 80 percent of corporate tax benefits flowed to the top 10 percent of households, and the BBB’s structure ensures the same outcome.
Read the full analysis: “7 Ways the Big Beautiful Bill Cuts Taxes for the Rich” by Corey Husak
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].