Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
In the business section of Sunday’s New York Times, there was an evaluation of the Republican “tax cut plan” that, according to President Trump, was going to hurt him and help the middle class.
If the president had to carry all the money he saved to the bank it would probably hurt his back. The special tax clause that covers income on pass through entities was referred to as a “Donald J. Trump loophole” by Steven M. Rosenthal of the non partisan Tax Policy Center.
Trump’s 2017 financial disclosure forms show more than 500 pass through entities.
That tax cut will cost the government about $476 billion over the next decade. Half of that income goes to the top 1 percent, according to the tax policy center.
John Cornyn a Texas Republican, got an amendment added to that bill so that certain income from oil and gas operators could also qualify for the lower rate.
Instead of simplifying taxes the bill opens a whole new range of loopholes. Adam Looney, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and former Treasury Department official, said “I’m not sure if that is a loophole or the intent of the legislation.”
The Senate went out of its way to be sure passive investors in publicly traded objects got the benefit of pass through. Edward Kleinbard, a professor of tax law and former chief of staff for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, said “This is a working definition of a tax boondoggle.”
A meeting was held with 38 professional economists. Asked if the proposed tax bill would promote growth as projected and serve the middle class and reduce the deficit, all but one of the 37 said no, it will increase the deficit by $1 trillion.
The next shoe to drop — “cut entitlements.”
Leon Logan
Tucumcari