“Employment is up, Taxes are DOWN. Enjoy!”
That was President Trump’s tweet on Tuesday morning — Tax Day across America.
He’s right: Wages are rising, unemployment claims are at a 44-year low, there are more than 6 million job openings, and some 5 million people got bonuses after tax cuts were passed by Congress and signed into law by the president.
But Trump knows that Americans hate this day more than any other, the day they’ve got to send their hard-earned cash to the federal government.
“Tuesday is a day hardworking Americans may dread more than any other. Tax Day. A day that individuals and families, small business owners and part-time workers struggle to conquer a burdensome, complex and extremely unfair tax code to determine how much money they owe the government,” Trump wrote in an op-ed in USA Today.
But Trump said the new tax law will change the way Americans do their taxes next year.
This is the last year Americans will fill out outdated, complicated tax forms. In the years ahead, because I signed one of the largest tax cuts in history and the most sweeping tax reform in a generation, many Americans will complete their taxes on a simple, single sheet of paper. Remarkably, Congress had to pass this critical legislation without a single Democrat’s vote.
A typical family of four earning $73,000 a year can expect to see an income tax cut of more than $2,000 when they file their tax return in 2019 — slashing their income tax bill in half. The standard deduction has been nearly doubled, so now twice as much income is earned tax-free.
Trump noted that the new tax law delivered bigger paychecks to Americans beginning in February. “And more savings are on the way,” he said.
And he said the tax law created a positive atmosphere for companies to grow.
On the announcement of my signing this historic tax reform, companies immediately started announcing thousands of new jobs and making enormous investments in their workers. Unemployment claims have reached a 44-year low. After years of wage stagnation, real wages are rising.
Apple will invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy over the next five years, including $30 billion as a direct result of the tax cuts. Fiat Chrysler announced that 2,500 jobs are coming back to near the Motor City. And millions of American workers received a tax cut bonus from their employers — pay raises, more money for retirement, or bonus checks — all because of we rolled up our sleeves, put America First, and made our tax code fairer and simpler.
Trump also pointed out that the penalties set under Obamacare are now gone.
This year also marks the last time Americans will have to contend with Obamacare’s cruel individual mandate because our tax law repealed it. These penalties largely hit lower-income and middle-class Americans — 80% of the penalties were paid by families making less than $50,000 per year.
Trump concluded by saying, “On this Tax Day, America is strong and roaring back. Paychecks are climbing. Tax rates are going down. Businesses are investing in our great country. And most important, the American people are winning.”