Hard Sell
The tax effort stemmed from the bipartisan desire to move the U.S. corporate tax system in line with those of foreign competitors. Both parties supported lowering the country’s 35 percent corporate rate, though Democrats favored a more modest reduction.
Republicans realized that corporate tax cuts were a hard sell to the general public. So they reduced levies for pass-through businesses -- partnerships and limited liability companies -- and individuals, eliminated some existing tax breaks to offset the rate reductions and included a more generous child tax credit.
But because of earlier unpopular proposals like one to cut deductions for medical expenses, college tuition and child-adoption costs, public opinion had already soured -- for good.
In many Democratic strongholds, such as New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia, the average refund amount decreased, according to H&R Block, fueling discontent with the law, even though residents in those states got a tax cut on average.
Worse, the state and local tax, or SALT, cap really stung. Residents of high-tax states, encouraged by the elected Democratic officials, came to believe they were targeted to pay for the $1.5 trillion tax cut, even if they weren’t able to personally use the deduction.
"It is clear that they consciously exacted revenge on Democratic states like New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Illinois by capping the SALT deduction, which is bad news for residents in those states," said Representative Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.