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Did Donald Trump lower taxes on billionaires and raise them on everyone else?

By Tom Kertscher
NO

The 2017 tax cut law signed by President Donald Trump cut income tax rates essentially across the board.

From 2017 to 2018, the average rate dropped from 4% to 3.4% for the bottom half of income earners; and from 26.8% to 25.4% for the top 1%, according to the Tax Foundation.

In 2018, the Tax Policy Center estimated, 65% of households paid lower taxes.

The tax claim was made June 8, 2024, by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention. His office cited a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis.

It states that the cuts are skewed to the rich, with the estimated average savings in 2025 of $70 for person for the lowest 20% of earners (up to $27,300) and of $61,090 for the top 1% (income of $837,800 or more).

Many of the law's tax breaks will expire after 2025 unless Congress acts.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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