The rich get more tax cuts because they pay the majority of federal taxes. Tax fairness is better seen by how much a middle-class individual is keeping of his annual earnings versus the rich guy.
Here’s an example. Mike’s salary is $10 million a year and taxes $4 million. Dave’s salary is $71,000 a year and taxes $17,000. With the new tax law, Mike’s taxes drop to $3.4 million, and Dave’s drop to $13,000.
Mike received $600,000 in tax cuts, whereas Dave received $4,000. I could scream that tax cuts were a giveaway to the rich because Mike got $150 for every $1 Dave did. But that’s because Mike paid so much more to begin with.
In this example, Mike’s tax bill went down 15 percent, and Dave’s 25 percent. Now it is not so unfair, is it? Even if we cut Dave’s taxes to $3,000 a year, we could say the tax cut went to Mike on a $42 to $1 rate, but Mike still gets a 15 percent tax cut, whereas Dave got an 82 percent cut. Hardly unfair.
Stacey Toole
Lexington
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