Recent news coverage suggests that the Working Families Tax Cut Act was a bust. Here’s Politico’s Bernie Becker when asked if this tax filing season has lived up to expectations:
The short answer is no… it wasn’t just one person promising $1,000. It was a key line they said over and over again. When you get refunds a third of the way there, there’s no way to suggest anything but that they overpromised.
But the promise of tax savings was not limited to refunds – it also included lower tax payments to close out 2025 and lower taxes paid through withholding or estimated payments for tax year 2026.
Piper Sandler has the full story. Tax refunds have increased by $37 billion and are on track to hit by $50 billion by early May. Non-withheld tax payments have already been cut by $37 billion and are on track to be cut by about $45 to $50 billion. Lastly, reduced withheld taxes should reduce taxes by another $30 billion.
All in, that’s about $130 billion in total relief. That relief is a key component to keeping Main Street humming. As our Main Street Employers Coalition letter signed by 100 trades stated:
Absent action, employers and workers would have faced the single largest tax increase in the nation’s history. This tax hike would have fallen disproportionately on the 95 percent of American businesses organized as pass-through entities – S corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships. These businesses employ 63 percent of private sector workers and they contribute the majority of business income to our national economy.
This discussion underscores a broader challenge. If the tax press is struggling to capture how tax relief is actually delivered, it’s no surprise that the public conversation ends up confused. That makes it all the more imperative for Main Street to get out there and tell the full story, something we’re working to do through our Main Street Employers Coalition.
Bottom line: Tax relief is reaching households and Main Street businesses through multiple channels, and any serious assessment should account for all of them.