It seems Republicans just can't help themselves. Even in a bill designed to save many Americans from the financial hardships of the global pandemic, they can't help but sneak in giant tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
According to a congressional committee, around 43,000 millionaires may have been too wealthy to receive the $1,200 stimulus check that's being sent to most Americans...but will benefit far more once their tax breaks kick in.
The CARES Act is best known for its modest benefits for average Americans and small businesses, but, hidden in its lengthy pages, its most generous benefit will award around $70.3 billion to thousands of wealthy business owners, averaging about $1.6 million each.
According to The New York Post:
"The act allows pass-through businesses — ones taxed under individual income, rather than corporate — an unlimited amount of deductions against their non-business income, such as capital gains."
Steve Rosenthal, a tax analyst, told The Washington Postthat "far and away" the greatest beneficiaries of this tax boon will be "hedge-fund investors and real estate business owners."
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) couldn't believe Republicans would "loot American taxpayers in the midst of an economic and human tragedy."
Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) also spoke out against this section of the law, saying "someone wrongly seized on this health emergency to reward ultra-rich beneficiaries."
Doggett also said:
"For those earning $1 million annually, a tax break buried in the recent coronavirus relief legislation is so generous that its total cost is more than total new funding for all hospitals in America and more than the total provided to all state and local governments."
Perhaps in a time of crisis, we should be distributing money to those who need it most instead of spending taxpayer dollars to make the rich even richer.
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