Washington, D.C. — In the past four months alone, the share of voters familiar with Project 2025, the far-right authoritarian playbook, has surged from just 1 in 10 to nearly 80 percent. Yet many middle-class families still have questions about how the Project 2025 agenda could affect their lives.
A new column from the Center for American Progress examines Project 2025’s plan to immediately raise taxes for the middle class by thousands of dollars while pushing for long-term changes that could raise middle-class taxes by $5,900. The analysis also examines how middle-class families would see their taxes skyrocket while the richest Americans and large corporations pay even less of their fair share in taxes after massive tax cuts.
Some key takeaways from the original analysis include:
- Project 2025’s long-term plan would shift the tax burden to more middle-class and poor Americans with a consumption tax: Project 2025’s plan to shift toward a consumption tax would lead to an average $5,900 tax increase for the middle 20 percent of households and an average $2 million tax cut for the top 0.1 percent. Replacing all income taxes with a value-added tax—a form of consumption tax—would require at least a 45 percent tax on goods and services, sending prices soaring.
- Project 2025’s immediate tax reform is a $3,000 tax increase for the median family of four making $110,000: If Project 2025 were to eliminate the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, the tax increases on low- and middle-income families would be even larger.
- Project 2025 would slash taxes for households making more than $10 million by $1.5–2.4 million: In addition to its changes to tax brackets, Project 2025 would slash taxes on the wealthiest household’s investment income, delivering a $1.5–2.4 million tax cut to the 45,000 households making more than $10 million.
- Project 2025’s immediate tax plan is a large corporate tax cut: Project 2025 would cut the corporate tax rate to 18 percent, a $24 billion tax cut for the 100 largest companies in America based on their latest financial statements. This includes a $1.3 billion tax cut to the five largest U.S. oil companies (Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum/ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and Valero Energy) and a $1.6 billion tax cut to the five largest drug makers (Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, AbbVie, and Bristol-Myers Squibb).
“Project 2025 doubles down on making the wealthiest Americans and big corporations pay less than their fair share,” said Brendan Duke, senior director for economic policy at CAP and author of the column. “This plan makes the majority of Americans’ worst fears of an unfair tax system a reality, handing out billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest in America and forcing middle-class families to foot the bill.”
Read the column: “Project 2025’s Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes on the Middle Class and Cut Taxes for the Wealthy” by Brendan Duke
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Jasmine Razeghi at [email protected].