Washington, D.C. — With congressional leaders allegedly preparing to unveil more details of their tax cut plan in the coming days, the Center for American Progress today released three more fact sheets for its new user-friendly guide aimed at providing easy-to-understand information about the major issues surrounding the tax system in the United States—and cutting through conservative noise on tax cuts for the rich. CAP’s new series, titled “The Facts on Tax Reform,” counters this deceptive information and is intended to serve as a resource to the media, policymakers, and members of the public.
“To date, both Preisdent Trump and the House majority’s tax plans have focused on slashing taxes for big corporations, millionaires, and billionaires,” said Alexandra Thornton, senior director of tax policy at CAP and co-author of the tax fact sheets series. “But the tax code is already seriously out of balance in their favor. American citizens need to understand the actual impact of proposals such as territorial taxation and repeal of the estate tax because these tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy will end up shifting the burden onto everyone else and leave even less funding for infrastructure, education, scientific research, and other priorities Americans care about.”
“The kinds of massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are pushing are deeply unpopular,” said Seth Hanlon, CAP senior fellow and co-author of the tax fact sheets series. “The only way they can pass them through Congress is to hide their costs and obscure who they actually benefit. We’re trying to set the record straight.”
In the upcoming tax debate, lobbyists and special-interest groups—many of which are backed by big business or the ultra-wealthy—will undoubtedly continue to propagate false and misleading information about the U.S. tax system in order to build a case for tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations. The new fact sheets released today by CAP focus on territorial taxation and how it would reward massive corporate tax avoidance as well as further incentivize the offshoring of investment and jobs, as well as how repealing the estate tax would result in an enormous windfall for the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans. A third fact sheet outlines why tax reform should at least be revenue-neutral, how Congress should ensure revenue neutrality in the budget resolution, and how Congress should avoid various gimmicks to hide the true cost of tax cuts.
Click to read the series “The Facts on Tax Reform” by Alexandra Thornton and Seth Hanlon.
Click to read “A Territorial Corporate Tax Would Reward Corporate Tax Avoidance and Could Encourage Offshoring” by Alexandra Thornton and Seth Hanlon.
Click to read “A Windfall for Wealthy Heirs” by Seth Hanlon and Alexandra Thornton.
Click to read “Tax Reform Must Be at Least Revenue-Neutral and Avoid Gimmicks” by Seth Hanlon.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.