For what seems like the 99th time, I just read an article from AP "explaining" how the tax cuts that went into effect last January did not help many people. And what's the basis for this assessment? The answer is a poll of voters who said by a margin of 49 to 47% that they had not seen any effect on their own finances from the tax cuts. In other words, the AP had nothing upon which to rely except for an exit poll.
It doesn't surprise me that these are the poll results. Remember, only about 50% of all Americans pay income tax. If you don't pay income tax, it's hard to see any impact on your own finances from the tax cuts. Zero is as low as you can go when it come to the amount of taxes paid. But remember, the real question is not whether or not an individual saw a tax benefit from the cuts. The real question is whether or not people were benefitted by the tax cuts. In other words, when the economy started booming after the tax cuts and hundreds of thousands or millions of new jobs were created, that helped all those new employees. Those people, however, may not have seen a change in their own taxes, but the improvement for the country as a whole helped everyone.
I know personally, that my taxes are going to be higher in 2018 than they were in 2017 in part because of the tax bill. I'm one of the 8% of taxpayers who will pay more. This is because of the loss of the state and local tax deduction. Nevertheless, I know that I'm better off than I would have been without the tax cuts because the growing economy meant that my overall income went up.
I understand how the tax cuts help me and help everyone else too. I just don't get how the AP could fail to understand this.
It doesn't surprise me that these are the poll results. Remember, only about 50% of all Americans pay income tax. If you don't pay income tax, it's hard to see any impact on your own finances from the tax cuts. Zero is as low as you can go when it come to the amount of taxes paid. But remember, the real question is not whether or not an individual saw a tax benefit from the cuts. The real question is whether or not people were benefitted by the tax cuts. In other words, when the economy started booming after the tax cuts and hundreds of thousands or millions of new jobs were created, that helped all those new employees. Those people, however, may not have seen a change in their own taxes, but the improvement for the country as a whole helped everyone.
I know personally, that my taxes are going to be higher in 2018 than they were in 2017 in part because of the tax bill. I'm one of the 8% of taxpayers who will pay more. This is because of the loss of the state and local tax deduction. Nevertheless, I know that I'm better off than I would have been without the tax cuts because the growing economy meant that my overall income went up.
I understand how the tax cuts help me and help everyone else too. I just don't get how the AP could fail to understand this.
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