Lower-income brackets would face tax increase after 2019 under Senate plan: Scorekeepers

All income levels would on average get a tax cut in 2019 under the Senate’s modified plan, but people making between $10,000 and $30,000 would on average face an income tax increase starting in 2021 compared to current law.

That’s according to new projections released Thursday by congressional scorekeepers, who also found that people making more than $30,000 per year would on average get a net tax cut through 2025 compared to current law.

By 2027, everyone making less than $75,000 would face an income tax hike compared to current law, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

But Republicans — who set up their plan so individual tax cuts expire after 2025 to comply with budget rules — have already said they don’t intend to let the higher rates kick back in again.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch addressed the new scores as his committee weighed the plan Thursday, saying lawmakers have no intention of raising taxes on the lower and middle class.

He said scorekeepers assumed the repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate would result in fewer people in those income brackets obtaining health insurance and claiming associated credits.

“In the world that exists outside of those assumptions, people will be making their own choices,” Mr. Hatch said. “Our mark provides significant relief to all low- and middle-class income brackets.”

“Anyone who says we’re hiking taxes on low-income families is misstating the facts,” he said.

But Sen. Ron Wyden, the committee’s ranking Democrat, called the new projections “astounding news” and said Republicans were going to be plotting in secret on taxes over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“When you’re reaching for the cranberry sauce, Republicans are going to be reaching for your pocketbooks to give handouts to multinational corporations,” Mr. Wyden said.

Mr. Hatch has said he hopes his committee can finish marking up its tax plan Thursday or Friday.