Kevin Cramer’s tax reform bill is bad for working and middle classes

By 2027, 65 percent of tax cuts will go to individuals who earn in excess of $1 million.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation — a nonpartisan committee within Congress — under Kevin Cramer’s tax reform bill, 8 percent of middle class families earning between $40,000 and $50,000 annually would see a tax increase by 2019. By 2025, 25 percent of those middle class earners would see their taxes increase, while 27 percent of middle class families earning between $50,000 and $75,000 annually would see their taxes increase.

“Working and middle class North Dakotans deserve a pay raise,” said Ben Hanson. “Under this bill, families earning less than $40,000 per year will be hit the hardest by tax increases. Congress should use this opportunity to level the playing field for working- and middle-class Americans. Instead, Kevin Cramer and his colleagues have abandoned the workers who live off the paychecks they earn.”

Families with children under the age of 18 will be particularly harmed by Cramer’s tax reform bill. According to a former U.S. Treasury economist, more than 65 percent of those working families who earn between $30,000 and $40,000 per year will see their taxes increased by 2027. Of working families with children who earn between $20,000 and $30,000 per year, 58 percent of them will see their taxes increased by 2027.

Under Kevin Cramer’s Tax Plan:

• Individuals earning between $10,000 and $20,000 will see an average income tax increase of $111 per year by 2025. (Source, at page 6.)
• Individuals earning between $20,000 and $30,000 will see an average income tax increase of $1,235 per year by 2025. (Id.)
• Individuals earning between $30,000 and $40,000 will see an average income tax increase of $699 per year by 2025. (Id.)
• “Households with annual incomes over $1 million would see their after-tax incomes increase by 3.2 percent, 16 times the percentage increase for any income group in the bottom half of the income distribution.” (Source)
• “A married couple with one child claiming the standard deduction would get no tax cut if they earn $24,850 or less a year.” (Source)
• “A married couple with one child, annual income of $60,000, and $20,000 in claimed itemized deductions would get a net tax increase of $575.” (Id.)