Letter to the editor: Refunds & Trump tax cuts

Anti-Trump bias the mainstream media builds into their stories often misleads the public with Democratic talking point lies. Recent stories that note Trump’s tax cuts didn’t help the middle class because tax refunds are, on average, lower in 2018, is an example.

Tax refunds are not a relevant measure of the benefits derived from Trump’s cuts. A 2018 tax refund is either a return of your over-paid withholding taxes, or it reflects a subsidy allowance for things such as earned income or child tax credit programs plus any actual paid 2018 withholding.

In the case of the latter, no taxes were paid to get the refund, and in the case of the former, your saved (reduced withholding) and the greater take-home pay you received should be added to the actual refund received to make apples-to-apples refund comparisons with 2017. If you actually saved the 2018 added take-home pay and its unpaid withholding in an interest-bearing account, your refund would be even greater since the money deducted from one’s paycheck for withholding earns no interest in the government’s hands, only in yours.

The real victims of the IRS believe in sending as much withholding as possible to them to get a fat refund. They fail to understand they are getting back their own money without interest.

Withholding is not a substitute for a savings account. In 2018, real middle-class wages increased and middle-class taxes decreased, no matter what Democrats want you to think.

Len Bach

Murrysville