TIME: How Big Business Is Cashing In On Trump's Tax Cuts

[Dennis Donovan]

TIME - How Big Business Is Cashing In On Trump’s Tax Cuts

May 22, 2025 3:58 PM ET
Lindsay Owens

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was sold to the American public as a boon for working families and a catalyst for economic growth. At the time, President Trump and his allies in Congress promised that slashing the corporate tax rate by nearly 50% would lead to more jobs, higher wages, and a wave of investment in American innovation and infrastructure.

Now, Trump is back in office, and Congressional Republicans’ first order of business is working overtime to extend the Trump tax cuts and, in the words of House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, “deliver on President Trump’s promises to the American people.”

But eight years later, it’s clear how empty those promises have been. The TCJA supercharged corporate profits while delivering little for working families. Instead of reinvesting their windfalls, corporations have lined the pockets of their shareholders, fueling record-breaking profits and exacerbating inequality.

An April 2025 report from Groundwork Collaborative examined corporate pricing and profits since the enactment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Our analysis confirms what many economists and workers have long suspected: the TCJA supercharged corporate profits and companies took the gains straight to their shareholders, while doing little to benefit the broader economy.

The data tells a stark story. After the TCJA slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, corporate profits exploded. But rather than using these gains to hire more workers or raise wages, companies funneled the bulk of their windfall into stock buybacks and dividend payouts that line the pockets of their wealthy shareholders and boost their earnings reports. Between 2018 and 2022, S&P 500 companies alone spent over $6.4 trillion on buybacks and dividends, dwarfing investments in labor, infrastructure, or research.

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