After some twists and turns, the final version of the tax reform bill of the American Republican Party once again passed the House of Representatives with enough votes on the 20th local time. The bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively, and will be implemented in January 2018 after being sent to President Trump for signature.

On the 20th, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the tax reform bill with 51 votes in favor, 48 votes against, and 224 votes in favor, 201 votes against respectively. However, because the bill passed by the House of Representatives was in conflict with the Senate's rules, on the same day, after the Senate completed its vote, the House of Representatives re-voted and finally passed it.

This bill to cut taxes by US$1.5 trillion over the next ten years is also the largest tax reform in the United States in the past 30 years. Trump claimed that this tax reform would significantly reduce the tax burden on Americans. For this reason, he had planned to name this bill that he was proud of "The Cut, Cut, Cut Act." , to emphasize the intention of tax reduction.

However, some people who are dissatisfied with Trump's tax reform believe that this tax cut plan favors the wealthy too much. The media found that large businesses and a handful of wealthy individuals will ultimately enjoy most of the benefits of tax cuts.

According to the latest research and analysis by the U.S. Tax Policy Research Center, according to the tax reform plan passed by the House and Senate, by 2027, more than half (53%) of Americans will have to pay more. taxes. Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration, even directly stated in a recent article that the tax reform plan of the Democratic Party and the Party is a return to donors.

Apple can save $47 billion in tax expenses

Trump’s tax reform bill will eventually reduce the corporate tax rate from the current 35% to 21%. The corporate tax cut is expected to benefit a number of multinational companies, especially technology companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.

Apple may become one of the biggest winners from this tax reform. The Financial Times calculated on December 6 that Apple’s potential gains from tax reform were approximately US$47 billion.

Data from the rating agency Moody's show that Apple has US$252 billion in cash and investments overseas, which is about one-fifth of the total assets held overseas by all U.S. companies. But in order to avoid paying the current 35% corporate tax in the United States, Apple has long kept a large amount of overseas profits abroad instead of repatriating the money.

Under the current tax system, if Apple repatriates overseas funds, it is expected to have to pay US$78.6 billion in taxes. However, after the implementation of the new tax system, Apple will only have to pay approximately US$31.4 billion in taxes, thereby reducing Apple's tax expenditure by as much as US$47 billion.

According to US reports in November, Apple CEO Tim Cook also called for tax reform in an interview at the time. He believed that the current tax law made US companies reluctant to repatriate funds. United States, this is not conducive to domestic investment in the United States.

Sponsors of tax reform have high hopes for lower corporate taxes. The conservative think tank "Tax Foundation" estimates that tax reform will increase companies' investment in equipment and other assets by 4.8% over 10 years, and will increase employee wages by an additional 1.5%.

However, some people believe that even if companies like Apple receive tax cuts, they will not use the excess funds for investment and salary increases. The UK quoted Kimberley Clausing, an economist at Reed College, as saying that companies will only increase dividends to shareholders and buy back shares instead of increasing new investments, jobs and wages, and the rich will reap huge gains. Most of the benefits.

The Trump family saved a lot of money

Not long ago, when Trump was promoting tax reform, he emphasized, "This is not good for me, believe me." But. The media found that, contrary to what he claimed, the tax reform plan would be of great benefit to him, at least in terms of saving money.

The United States reported on November 4 that according to the tax reduction plan previously drawn up by Trump’s advisers, if the inheritance tax is completely eliminated in the next six years, this alone can help Trump’s heirs save money. $600 million. The heirs of the 15 wealthiest senior officials serving in the Trump administration will save a total of $1.7 billion.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who supports eliminating the estate tax, said the estate tax hurts "family farms" and "small businesses." But "Salon" magazine pointed out that in fact this will only affect the richest 0.2% of people. The tax reform plan calls for doubling the inheritance tax threshold to $22 million per couple. This adjustment just avoids a part of the so-called "small businesses and family farms" that will be taxed under the current tax rate.

If the main concern of the *** and the Party is really "small businesses and family farms" affected by the existing inheritance tax, then nothing should be changed. The tax reform package proves what some astute observers have long suspected, that the so-called "small businesses and family farms" are just a cover-up for tax cuts for the super-rich.

According to estimates, the estate tax cut will be $300 billion over the next ten years.

In addition to cutting the estate tax, another tax reform policy may also bring considerable benefits to the Trump family.

Lowering the tax rate on pass-through businesses, in which business owners pay taxes on their profits as personal income taxes rather than corporate income taxes, would benefit Trump and his son-in-law Kushner, who is also a member of the real estate elite. profit. The New York Times said on December 16 that many industries will benefit from tax cuts, but no industry will benefit as much as the commercial real estate industry where the Trump family made a fortune.

The current income tax rate passes the income obtained through partnerships or other business forms to the business owners and taxes it at the individual tax rate. According to the current tax rate, the tax rate on this part of income can be as high as 39.6%, but under the new tax reform plan, the tax rate can be as low as 29.6%.

Robert Reich, the Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration and now a professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, even directly pointed out in a recent article that *** and The party's tax reform plan is a reward for donors.

Leitch said that most Americans are very clear that this tax reform plan is to reward major political and party donors. Gary Cohn even said directly in an interview: "Regarding our tax reform, the most excited group is the big CEOs."

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer?

On the one hand, the tax reform plan will reduce taxes for large companies and the wealthy. On the other hand, many tax exemptions and subsidies for low-income people may be eliminated in the tax reform plan. There are reports and analysis that this tax reform may further widen the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States.

While the Trump administration is slashing estate taxes for the wealthy, it is claiming that the government cannot afford Medicare, Medicaid, nutrition assistance for women, infants and children, teaching subsidies for teachers, and affordable housing and Medical Research, proposing to abolish these programs.

The *** and the party previously used saving US$337 billion in the next ten years as an important selling point when promoting their own health care bill, but this was mainly achieved by making 24 million people lose their health insurance.

At the same time, the latest research and analysis by the U.S. Tax Policy Research Center found that according to the tax reform plan, more than half (53%) of Americans will have to pay more taxes by 2027. . By then, 82.8% of the tax cuts will be enjoyed by the richest 1%. Analysts say that even in the first year of tax reform, the benefits of tax cuts are mainly concentrated in the middle and upper classes of society, with nearly two-thirds of the benefits going to the richest fifth of Americans.

While the new tax reform plan may allow Apple to enjoy huge tax benefits, there are many homeless people struggling to survive living around Apple. The new tax reform may put these people under greater pressure.

Reports indicate that inequality in Silicon Valley is already quite common. While wealthy "foodies" in Silicon Valley spend $500 to sample restaurant delicacies, a quarter of the local population is facing a hunger crisis. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of social media site Facebook, has bought four properties next to his home to protect his privacy. Across the road from Facebook's headquarters, homeless people were eking out a living wearing tarps.

According to reports, Sujatha Venkatraman, executive deputy director of the "West Silicon Valley Community Service" organization less than a street away from Apple's headquarters, said that the latest government data shows that where they are located Cupertino's homeless population increased 74% in 2 years. Although Apple has previously provided some volunteer services to the community service organization, it has never provided ongoing financial support.

When large companies and the super-rich enjoy the U.S. tax dividends, it will take time to test whether it can truly benefit ordinary people.