The Tax Reform Bill, Explained By A 6th Grader

By Cara Giardina and Vanessa Ramos 

Long Island CityWhat does the tax reform bill mean? What will it do? These are some questions that people - including middle schoolers at HPCMS - have had over the past few months since the tax reform bill passed in December of 2017.

In November of 2017, congress passed the tax reform bill. The thing about tax reforms is that all our families except kids pay taxes, so it affects all of us. In our opinion it is very important to talk about these things. So you know our parents, and adults pay for rent, bills, and taxes every month. The money they pay in taxes goes to many places. In addition to paying the salaries of government workers, our tax dollars also help to support common resources, such as police officers firefighters and public school teachers

Tax money also helps to ensure the roads you travel on are safe and well-maintained and that older people are taken care of when they can no longer work This is what basically happens when the adults pay taxes. Taxes are one of the most important bills in the United States of America.

An important thing to note is that the Republicans passed this bill, and Democrats were against this proposal.

The tax reform is basically going to let middle-income families, married couples, and the heads of households only have tax cuts until 2025. However, companies and high-income families will have permanent tax cuts. This means that the rich people will get to keep more money overall.

Vianca Proano in class 701 said, “I think that it’s a bad thing because some people don’t make enough money so it’s harder to pay for all the taxes and it’s unfair because they aren’t providing good jobs that pay alot and they are expected to pay all their taxes all of a sudden.”

For Republicans, the plan is that the money that the higher class will save will eventually be given to middle and mostly lower income people. Companies and rich people will get a permanent tax cut so that leftover money will trickle down to the less fortunate in the form of jobs, better pay, and lower costs. This sounds like it should be a great idea, but if you think about it, it might not turn out so well.

The wealthiest Aamericans will go from paying 39.6% to 37% of the money that they make. According to (The Spokesman Review).Companies and corporations will go from paying 35% of their tax income to 21%, unlike individual middle and lower class people. This is a pretty big tax cut and it

Azra Hasanovic from 701 says: “I think it’s really unfair because the president already had a lot of unpopularity, and this is really triggering another problem. I would change the tax reform in its entirety;, it’s not a smart idea, and it’s defeating the purpose of what our country was founded for. It’s unfair because, the middle and lower classes are the most hardworking and if anyone, they earn the least money. In the long run, when I’m an adult this is going to influence me greatly. If I was part of congress, I would try to persuade Trump to rethink his decision but I’m sure it wouldn’t work because he isn’t a very open minded person.”

Here’s the important thing to understand, high-income families and companies will be paying more money than middle and lower income families in taxes. However, these companies and high income families will save more money than regular middle and lower-class people were before the tax reform bill. Paying more money may seem like a problem for high-income families, but since they are getting a permanent tax cut they are saving even more money than they would without the tax cut.

To me, this means that rich people will get to keep more money, and that poor people will have to pay a disproportionate amount.

What do you think? How does this make you feel?