y point was to say that what is being called a "tax cut" may not actually be a tax cut.
Yes, if you cut a tax to less than zero, its a transfer payment not a real tax cut.
it can be an increase in transfer payments for some, and an actual tax increase for others.
Creating or increasing transfer payments, just like other spending increases, puts upward pressure on taxes, but it isn't in any direct way a tax increase.
Also a bill that contains both these transfer payment tax cuts, and actual tax increases, could be touted as a tax cut if the former exceeds the later, when the reality might be that there is actually a real tax increase.
In case that's not clear, I'll give a simplified hypothetical example. If your taxing Bob $100, and John $1000, then you "cut" Bob's taxes by $500 ($100 in real cuts, and $400 transfer payment, to give him a "negative $400 tax burden"), while raising John's taxes by $400 (to $900), some politician might call that a $100 tax cut, while really its a $300 net total increase (and a $400 increase on Bob). Is something like that what you mean? |
