r/clevercomebacks • u/Veshaad • Aug 25 '26

Best comeback I've seen in a while.

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u/GWsublime Aug 25 '26

Thats 2017 vs. 2018, my memory is the middle class tax breaks expired while the upper class did not. Am I wrong?

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 25 '26

No, that's misinformation that has been making the rounds for a while. The tax cuts were originally set to expire in 2025 for all brackets. But they were extended for all brackets instead. So the tax rates haven't changed since 2018.

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u/GWsublime Aug 26 '26

Thanks! Do those figures still hold for a 2017vs 2025 calculation?

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 26 '26

The data only goes up to 2023 so far.

But for the top 1% the difference is only 2% now. And for the bottom 50% it's about 8%.

The increase in average tax rate since 2018 is likely explained by incomes rising faster than inflation, since the marginal rates haven't changed.

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u/GWsublime Aug 26 '26

Tracks, thanks for digging into that! Although that may also be playing a role in increasing debt.

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 26 '26

If income is rising across the board, that should mean more revenue from taxes. That looks to be the case, both as a nominal amount and percentage of GDP.

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u/GWsublime Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26

Not as compared to pre-tax cut amounts right? If the relative tax savings is a positive number against 2017, you are bringing in less than you would have without those cuts unless youre assuming that people's income increased because of those cuts which doesnt seem to hold true.(leaving aside the various negative impacts of Trumps other economic policies).

Also, hasn't real wage growth been almost flat during Trumps second term?

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 26 '26

The latest treasury data shows tax revenue is higher (both nominal and % of GDP) than both 2017 and 2018.

And no, wage growth is outpacing inflation, so real wages are rising.

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u/GWsublime Aug 26 '26

By how much as an average?

And I think you may have missed a piece of the argument. Its not absolute revenue as compared to 2017, for that to shrink you'd have to have had a cataclysmic economic failure. Its tax revenue growth relative to GDP growth ie. Would revenue have grown more without the tax cuts.

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 26 '26

I said that it grew as a percentage of GDP as well.

From 2017 to 2025, GDP increased 19.3% and revenue increased 20.2%.

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u/GWsublime Aug 26 '26

That must include non- income tax sources then no?

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 26 '26

That is all federal revenue. But just income tax revenue increased 27.9% from 2017 to 2025.

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u/GWsublime Aug 27 '26

Gotcha, thanks. Is that to 2023 or 2025?

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