The one percentage point cut in personal income tax rates agreed to by the GOP House-Senate tax conference would give almost half of its tax cuts to the best-off tenth of all taxpayers, while shortchanging middle- and lower-income taxpayers, according to an analysis of the rate cut released by Citizens for Tax Justice.

The analysis found that under the rate reduction plan:

• The 60 percent of taxpayers in the middle income quintile and below would receive only 14 percent of the total tax cuts. Their average tax reduction would be only $65.
• The best-off tenth of all taxpayers would receive 48 percent of the tax reductions, and get an average tax cut of $1,322.
• The best-off one percent of taxpayers would get an average tax reduction of $5,281.

"Surely, congressional tax-writers won't try to call this rate reduction plan 'middle-income tax relief,' " said Citizens for Tax Justice director Robert S. McIntyre. "That would be dishonest."

A table comparing the conference one-percentage-point income tax rate reduction to the 10-percent rate cut previously approved by the House and the one-point cut in the bottom tax rate previously approved by the Senate is attached.

CTJ plans to release an analysis of the entire House-Senate conference tax agreement as soon as final details of the plan are made public.

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