Would the GOP Senate bill raise or lower your taxes?


At a rally in Missouri on Wednesday night, President Trump marketed the $5 trillion tax bill hurtling through the Senate this week as a "big, beautiful Christmas present" for Americans. "With Trump as your president, you will be seeing 'Merry Christmas' again," he said. "And it's going to be done with a big, beautiful tax cut." And in 2019, more than 60 percent of U.S. households would get tax cuts of more than $100, according to an official analysis of winners and losers from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation given to The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. In the same year, 30 percent of Americans would see no real change to their taxes, and 8 percent would pay more.
But the number of winners shrinks and the losers grow steadily with each year, until 2027, when 16 percent of households — mostly wealthy ones — get tax cuts, 61 percent would see no significant cut or gain, and 23 percent of households would pay more. Fifty-seven percent of households earning $1 million or more a year would get tax cuts of at least $500 by 2027, while 36 percent of millionaire households would pay $500 more in taxes, though the analysis does not take into consideration changes to the estate tax.
There are lots of other losers and winners in the sprawling legislation — for example deficit hawks, universities and college students, renewable energy companies, Medicare recipients, and Affordable Care Act customers (losers), and partisan churches, oil companies, and trickle-down economists (winners). Also, roughly 100 percent of corporations will get a significant tax cut. Broadly, people in blue areas are more likely to pay more while people in red areas are more likely to pay less.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Our focus is on helping the folks who work in the mail rooms and the machine shops of America," Trump said in Missouri. "The plumbers. The carpenters. The cops. The teachers. The truck drivers. ... The people that like me best."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Why Turkey's Kurdish insurgents are laying down their arms
Under the Radar The PKK said its aims can now be 'resolved through democratic politics'
-
Book reviews: 'Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves' and 'Notes to John'
Feature The aughts' toxic pop culture and Joan Didion's most private pages
-
The FDA plans to embrace AI agencywide
In the Spotlight Rumors are swirling about a bespoke AI chatbot being developed for the FDA by OpenAI
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loom
Speed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panels
Speed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine