Press Releases
Analysis: Top 15 Corporate Beneficiaries of Trump Tax Giveaway Law Have Since Spent $839B on Shareholder Handouts
WASHINGTON, DC — As members of Congress publicly debate whether to allow the 2017 Trump tax giveaways for billionaires and multinational corporations to expire in 2025, government watchdog Accountable.US released a new analysis today finding the 15 largest corporate beneficiaries of the Trump tax law used their savings to collectively spend $839 billion on stock buybacks and shareholder dividends in the years following the law’s passage. Accountable.US’ latest review is part of its ongoing “End Corporate Tax Giveaways” campaign and examined the same 15 corporations spotlighted in a recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy which found these companies avoided $97.5 billion in taxes in the first four years after the law’s passage while seeing profits increase 49 percent
The new analysis comes as Republicans in Congress have threatened to fast-track the Trump tax cut extension through the reconciliation process even as the CBO now projects continuing them would cost a staggering $4.6 trillion over the next decade.
The biggest corporate winners of the Trump tax giveaway used their massive windfall mostly to pad profits and enrich a small group of wealthy investors instead of raising their workers’ wages and lowering prices for consumers. There’s nothing to be gained for everyday Americans by doubling down on the Trump corporate tax breaks – a historic mistake that added trillions to the deficit while threatening critical priorities like Social Security and Medicare. It’s time billionaires, wealthy tax cheats, and price-gouging corporations stop avoiding their fair share of taxes at the expense of everyone else.”
Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone
Instead of trickling down to higher wages for workers and producing a surge in business investment as they claimed at the time, the Trump Administration's giant corporate tax cut mainly resulted in higher executive pay and massive shareholder payouts. It was a failed approach, and Congress should use the expiration of key provisions of the Trump tax bill next year to bring in more revenue from corporations and the wealthy."
Bharat Ramamurti, Former Biden/Harris administration Deputy Director for the National Economic Council
Accountable.US’ new analysis follows its recent report spotlighting several of the corporate lobbyists, lawyers, executives, and organizations behind efforts to help the wealthy avoid paying their fair share. Advancing American Freedom (AAF) and Club for Growth are two groups that are already funneling millions of dollars into an early effort to extend and expand the Trump tax giveaways. Unsurprisingly, their boards and staff are overflowing with some of the ultra-wealthy individuals and corporate executives who benefited the most from the disastrous Trump tax handout policy.
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