Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Tax Cut' - 2021-08-11

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Tax Cut' August 11, 2021, Justin Elliott, Talking Points Memo

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The expanded tax break Johnson muscled through netted them $215 million in deductions in 2018 alone, drastically reducing the income they owed taxes on. At that rate, the cut could deliver more than half a billion in tax savings for Hendricks and the Uihleins over its eight-year life.

But the tax break did more than just give a lucrative, and legal, perk to Johnson's donors. In the first year after Trump signed the legislation, just 82 ultrawealthy households collectively walked away with more than $1 billion in total savings, an analysis of confidential tax records shows. Republican and Democratic tycoons alike saw their tax bills chopped by tens of millions, among them: media magnate and former Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg; the Bechtel family, owners of the engineering firm that bears their name; and the heirs of the late Houston pipeline billionaire Dan Duncan.

Usually the scale of the riches doled out by opaque tax legislation — and the beneficiaries — remain shielded from the public. But ProPublica has obtained a trove of IRS records covering thousands of the wealthiest Americans. The records have enabled reporters this year to explore the diverse menu of options the tax code affords the ultrawealthy to avoid paying taxes.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Justin | last = Elliott | author2 = Robert Faturechi | title = Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Tax Cut' | url = https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut | work = Talking Points Memo | date = August 11, 2021 | accessdate = August 15, 2021 }}