Higher Taxes & Broken Promises
From the AFL-CIO
While many Americans are frustrated by smaller refunds this Tax Day, major corporations like AT&T are celebrating billions in massive giveaways, courtesy of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The tax bill, which was signed into law in 2017, dramatically cut the corporate rate tax from 35% to 21%. This led AT&T’s CEO to vow that the company would create at least 7,000 jobs.
Instead, AT&T has eliminated more than 12,000 jobs since the law took effect.
At the same time, the corporation’s annual report shows the company increased executive pay and suggests that after refunds, it paid no cash income taxes in 2018.
AT&T isn’t the only corporation enjoying major tax breaks.
A recent report found that 60 Fortune 500 companies avoided paying all federal income taxes in 2018—more than three times the number of companies that dodged taxes from 2008 to 2015.
Eighty-four percent of American companies have not invested their windfall from the tax law in hiring or investment plans.
Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service reported earlier this year that the average tax refund for working Americans was down 8.7% from the year prior.
“[O]ur lived reality over the past year has made it clear that the current tax law was nothing more than an effort to increase Wall Street profits and line the pockets of executives. From our perspective, the corporate tax cut was a massive failure if judged on the promises made to U.S. workers." —Chris Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America (CWA), in testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, March 27, 2019.
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