ABOUT THE 2025 TAX LAW FIGHT
The 2017 GOP Tax Law made significant changes to how taxes work in the U.S., but its benefits disproportionately go to the wealthy. The law slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, allowing large companies to save billions in taxes while many paid little or nothing despite making massive profits.
Wealthy business owners also benefited from a new loophole that lets them deduct 20% of their income from their taxes, and the law raised the estate tax exemption, making it easier for the ultra-wealthy to pass on their fortunes for generations tax-free.
While proponents argued it would boost wages and the economy, much of the relief went to the richest Americans, leaving working and middle-class families with a much smaller slice of the pie.
Nebraska For Us is in our community, raising awareness alongside local and state experts about how federal tax policies affect us here at home.
NEBRASKA IMPACTS
The 2017 GOP Tax Law delivered dramatic tax handouts to the richest Nebraskans. The top 1% received more than a quarter of the tax breaks in the bill, while the bottom 20% of Nebraskans received just 1%.
In 2019, the top 1% of Nebraskans averaged more than $50,000 in tax breaks while the bottom 60% of earners received an average of just over $500.
Nationally, the tax law is set to increase the deficit by nearly $2 trillion, putting funding for programs like Social Security and Medicare in jeopardy.
If this tax law were extended, it would cost $4 TRILLION over the next decade while continuing to deliver massive benefits to the ultra-wealthy.
Learn more about the law and its impact on Nebraska here.
WHY IT MATTERS
Revenue from taxes help keep vital programs like Social Security and Medicare safe for families for decades to come.
A fair tax code can support investments in small business owners who are the backbone of our local economy while also making it easier for Nebraskans to open their own small businesses.
Instead of passing on savings to hardworking Nebraskans, large corporations receiving disproportionately favorable tax cuts have jacked up prices and raked in record profits at a time when people are living paycheck to paycheck.
