The 2017 tax law
Trump and Republicans made the corporate cut permanent — and put yours on a timer.
- Who acted
- Trump signed it. Republicans in Congress passed it.
- Who gained
- Corporations got a permanent rate cut from 35% to 21%. The top 1% averaged about $33,000 in 2018.
- What working people pay
- The bottom fifth averaged about $60 and middle-income households about $800. Those individual cuts were temporary, and the law added to the debt.
- The connection
- Republicans wrote the corporate cut in permanent ink and put the family provisions on a timer.
Receipt: JCT and Tax Policy Center estimates
In December 2017, Congress cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and made it permanent — a $1.3 trillion reduction over ten years, the biggest item in the law.
Regular families got cuts too, but smaller and temporary: about $60 a year for the bottom fifth, $800 in the middle — while the top 1% averaged $33,000.
None of it was fully paid for. It went on the national credit card, and the interest line on your tax bill has been covering it ever since.
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Trump and Republicans handed the bottom $60, the middle $800, and the top 1% $33,000 a year — and only the corporate cut was written in permanent ink.
Receipts: JCT via CBPP · Tax Policy Center