Democrats on Monday sought to downplay a nonpartisan assessment of their inflation bill that showed it would lead to nearly every American paying higher taxes. Democrats argued that the Inflation Reduction Act would fulfill President Biden’s promise not to tax Americans making less than $400,000 a year and instead tax large corporations. Over the weekend, Republicans released an analysis Friday from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) showing that most Americans would pay higher taxes under the legislation. MOST AMERICANS WILL FEEL TAX PAIN FROM DEM INFLATION BILL DESPITE BIDEN’S PAST PROMISES: ANALYSIS “A family making less than $400,000 will not pay a dime in additional taxes under the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Ashley Shapitle, spokeswoman for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to FOX Business in an email. “This is the same economic argument that Republicans have been making for decades, and the American people aren’t buying it.” “The American people are smart,” he continued. “They knew that the Republican corporate giveaway in 2017 didn’t cut their taxes. They know that making corporations with billions in profits pay their share doesn’t raise their taxes.” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is pictured next to Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Angus King, I-Maine, on Oct. 26, 2021. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images/Getty Images) The JCT study concluded that, in 2023, taxpayers making less than $10,000 will see their tax rate rise from 7.3% to 7.6%, while those earning less than $200,000 will pay a total of 16.7 billions of dollars in additional taxes. Shapitl argued that the analysis was “incomplete” because it did not take into account the tax credits and incentives included in the legislation. MANCHIN-SUMER SPENDING BILL IS ESTIMATED TO HARM COAL WORKERS THE MOST “The analysis that Republicans are pointing to is also flawed,” Shapitl said. “It doesn’t include the benefits for middle-class families of making health insurance premiums and prescription drugs more affordable. The same goes for clean energy incentives for families.” The JCT did not consider the impact of health care or prescription drugs on taxes under the bill, but listed about 20 clean energy provisions it considered in the analysis. Former Reagan economist Art Laffer discusses the impact of the Deflation Act on economic growth and how the Fed handles inflation. Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., who introduced the bill last week, told reporters Monday that he would “agree to disagree” on the JCT’s findings, according to CNN’s Manu Raju . Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also pushed back on the study. “The only tax increases in the Inflation Reduction Act are requiring the largest corporations to pay SOME corporate tax and closing a terrible loophole for some billionaire/millionaire investors,” Murphy tweeted Monday. “These $$ are used to lower drug and energy costs for ordinary Americans.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS The Connecticut senator also criticized Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo for saying the JCT concluded the bill raises taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year. “This is absolutely not what JCT is saying,” he tweeted. Thomas Barthold, JCT’s chief of staff, told FOX Business earlier Monday that the tax increases highlighted in the analysis were primarily a result of the 15 percent minimum corporate tax included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
