The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, while the largest tax reform since 1986, was also the largest blunder to taxes in recent history. The name of the act leads Americans to believe that a unilateral decrease in taxes is expected, however we have seen this to be false. The TCJA provides for decreased taxes for highly profitable corporations. It takes the focus away from creating success for future generations and instead focuses on keeping money in the pockets of the wealthy. 

As part of the TCJA, the corporate #tax rate was lowered from 35% to 21%, meaning that highly profitable corporations are paying less in taxes. These tax cuts operate under the idea that less money spent in taxes would trickle to employees of those corporations. However, research shows that lower taxes for corporations overwhelmingly benefit the rich rather than the middle class. 

The policies contained in the TCJA do not create economic benefits for the majority of earners. What the TCJA offers in tax cuts for middle-class earners, it more than makes up for in tax increases (or decreases in tax deductions) in other areas. 

The TCJA disproportionally benefits higher earners and businesses by decreasing the amount of taxes owed by those groups. According to the Tax Policy Center, the reduction in the mortgage interest deduction reduced the number of middle class Americans benefiting from the tax line item from 16% to fewer than 5%. 

Similar statistics are reflected in the numbers of middle-class earners who will benefit from the deductions available for charitable giving. Prior to the implementation of the TCJA, over 16% of middle-class Americans took the charitable contribution deduction compared to only 5% getting the deduction in 2018. 

These changes to the tax policy negatively affect middle-class families, discourage home ownership and charitable contributions, while giving big tax cuts to people earning well over the national income average while receiving large funds from estates and businesses. 

The TCJA is a poor excuse for a tax policy and does not benefit the Americans that need it most. In order to support families, the TCJA needs to be repealed and replaced with a better tax policy that supports Americans.