Be it child care or health care, an array of tax changes and subsidies makes the $1.9 trillion relief legislation more than a lifeline for the poor.
WASHINGTON — The economic relief plan that is headed to President Biden’s desk has been billed as the United States’ most ambitious antipoverty initiative in a generation. But inside the $1.9 trillion package, there are plenty of perks for the middle class, too.
Whether they are direct stimulus payments, an array of tax benefits or an expansion of the Affordable Care Act, the bill will bring a big economic lift to middle-income families. In some cases, those households will have weathered the pandemic relatively unscathed, and those who are concerned about the cost of the legislation have suggested that the definition of middle class has expanded to include families who are actually well-off.
An analysis by the Tax Policy Center published this week estimated that middle-income families, those making $51,000 to $91,000 per year, will see their after-tax income rise by 5.5 percent as a result of the tax changes and stimulus payments in the legislation. The increase for that income group is about twice as generous as what it received after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Continue reading.