The Distributional and Tax Planning Consequences of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The TCJA was the most significant overhaul of the tax system in over three decades. It is commendable that this committee is evaluating how this law affects the American public. We are fortunate to have the projections of the Joint Committee on Taxation and various think tanks, but the sheer amount of data can be overwhelming. The goal of my testimony is to crystallize that data into five major takeaways. I pair each takeaway with a figure that captures the point visually.Who received tax cuts and how much? Will that change over time? How are we as Americans going to pay for the deficits created by the TCJA? How does the new law make taxes easier to avoid? What can history tell us about how tax laws change after major legislation?