Next month, Congress and the incoming Trump 2.0 White House are poised to renew expiring provisions and add additional reforms to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). In December 2017, a Republican Congress passed and President Trump signed the TCJA, a package of sweeping reforms to the U.S. tax code, both for individual filers and corporations. How much do you know about the TCJA and how its expiration could affect you? Let’s play “Two Truths and a Lie” to find out!

A. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act helps people from all walks of life.

B. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is popular among Americans.

C. Tax cuts will lead to a decrease in government revenue.

A. Truth! The TCJA cut income tax rates for workers at every level and nearly doubled the standard deduction, shielding more income from taxation. It expanded the Child Tax Credit and preserved other popular tax benefits like the deductions for mortgage interest and charitable deductions. Many small businesses benefited from tax reform because the law provides them with a 20%-percent deduction on business profits.

American families could keep more money from every paycheck. In the two years after the TCJA was signed into law, real wages rose by 4.9% percent—the fastest growth in twenty years.

If the TCJA is not extended, the Tax Foundation finds that more than 62% percent of tax filers will experience tax increases in 2026. The average family of four making $75,000 is projected to see their taxes increase by $1,500 if Congress does not take action on the TCJA. 

B.  Truth! The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is widely popular because it made it easier for more filers to take the standard deduction and flattened tax brackets. American workers and families received an immediate boost from tax cuts. This law lowered the income tax rates and adjusted the income thresholds for each bracket, resulting in lower income tax liabilities for people at every income level. 
According to recent polling, a majority of Americans say that failing to renew the 2017 tax cuts would hurt middle-class families, small businesses, American consumers, and the economy.

C.  Lie! The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2024: “More than six years after the TCJA took effect, tax revenue has exceeded CBO projections from June 2017. By 2023 annual tax revenue had recovered from the Covid-19 recession and returned to its historical average of about 16.5% of GDP.” 

Additionally, the TCJA did not lead to cuts in government services as a result of a decrease in tax revenue, because many federal programs need structural reforms, and wasteful spending needs to be restrained. Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tasked by President-elect Trump with reforming government spending through the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This agency is expected to find hundreds of billions to cut from the federal budget.

Bottom Line:

It’s clear the American people desire a simpler, fairer tax system, and enacting sensible reforms, extensions and updates to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will do just that.

Making tax rate reductions permanent will lower taxes for 80% of taxpayers—a critical need for Americans seeking economic relief.

To learn more, read the Policy Focus on Restoring and Expanding Tax Reforms to Empower Women and Families.