The very first individual tax cuts officially endorsed by President Donald Trump don’t offer great news for most of his supporters: Counties that backed him would get less than a third of the relief that would go to counties where Democrat Hillary Clinton won.
The two individual tax cuts contained in the Republican plan to replace Obamacare apply only to high-earning workers and investors, roughly those with incomes of at least $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples.
Taxpayers in counties that backed Trump would see an annual windfall of about $6.6 billion, a Bloomberg analysis of Internal Revenue Service data shows. In counties that backed Clinton, it’d be about $21.9 billion.
That disparity runs counter to Trump’s calls for “massive tax relief for the middle class” and offers comparatively little benefit in the so-called Rust Belt that stretches from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, states critical to the success of his populist campaign last year.
Two White House spokeswomen didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. Administration officials have promised those lower down the income ladder will eventually get their turn for tax cuts, and Trump has said a full tax overhaul will come after the health-care legislation is approved.
In the short term, though, the health legislation would end two individual taxes that were imposed by the Affordable Care Act: a 0.9 percent additional Medicare tax on wages and 3.8 percent surtax on investment income that both apply to people at the top end of the income scale.
Frustrated But Supportive
Trump voters in Rust Belt states expressed some frustration about the potential cuts for the wealthy, even as they remain supportive of the president.
“It pisses me off, but my wife pisses me off, too, and we’re still married,” said Dan Peuschold, 62, as he shared a $13 pitcher of beer with friends Saturday afternoon at the Hiawatha Bar & Grill in the Wisconsin village of Sturtevant.
Peuschold lives in Racine County, where Trump beat Clinton 49.8 percent to 45.4 percent. Trump’s number there was about two percentage points higher than Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s in 2012, when former President Barack Obama won the county with 51.4 percent.