Americans for Tax Reform Director: GOP Tax Plan is Big Win for Middle Class

The director of tax policy at a nonprofit group that works to support limited government wrote a strong op-ed asserting that the middle class will be the big winners in the new GOP tax plan.

Alex Hendrie, the director of tax policy at Americans for Tax Reform, wrote in a piece for The Hill that “the unified Republican tax reform framework released last month cuts taxes and increases take-home pay for the middle class while simplifying the code for millions of American families.”

Hendrie points out that the new framework will cut the current seven tax brackets down to three, 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent, and that a rate reduction will be given to all. The plan will also double the standard deductions of $24,000 for families and $12,000 for individuals — creating a significant tax deduction for millions of people.

“This reform represents drastic rate reduction for the 105 million Americans across the country who took the standard deduction in 2015, according to IRS data. More than seven million taxpayers in Florida, nine million taxpayers in Texas, and three million in Michigan and North Carolina benefit from this tax reduction. These numbers also understate the number of taxpayers who will benefit as the increased standard deduction becomes more attractive for taxpayers,” Hendrie explained.

Additionally, the GOP reform plan will also expand the child tax credit — which will ease the burden on approximately 22 million families throughout the United States.

“Similarly, the repeal of the AMT gives tax relief to almost 4.5 million American families that paid the tax in 2015. More than half a million taxpayers in New York, 250,000 taxpayers in Texas and 166,000 taxpayers in Pennsylvania are hit by the AMT,” the tax expert wrote. 

The author used these numbers to challenge liberal groups that have been attacking the plan and claiming that it will not benefit American families. Hendrie specifically took aim at the left-wing Tax Policy Center, who has claimed that middle-class families will see little if any tax relief and many will face a tax increase — blasting them for failing to use any kind of dynamic scoring in its analysis.

“By any measure, the middle class is the winner of this tax reform plan. Under the unified framework released last month, American families will see tax cuts, tax simplification, new or better jobs, and more take-home pay,” Hendrie concluded.