Joecks: Why ‘the rich’ deserve an income tax cut more than you do

(Victor Joecks, Las Vegas Review-Journal) – The rich deserve an income tax cut more than you do.

While that’s probably the least popular opinion in Nevada about the tax-reform outline President Donald Trump’s team released last week, the numbers show it’s true.

In 2016, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the effective income tax rate of the bottom 20 percent of households by income is -7.2 percent. For households in the second quintile, the rate was -1.2 percent. No, you’re not seeing things. That really is a negative sign in front of both those rates.

Remember Mitt Romney’s comment that “47 percent of Americans pay no income tax”? It’s true, but the contrast is more stark than that. The IRS is giving most of those folks money back via tax credits.

If the IRS pays you, you can’t get an income tax cut.

Click here to continue reading