LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed that cutting taxes on corporations would trickle down to workers.

Philadelphia Inquirer: “But, [Ivanka] Trump said, the administration is also banking on cutting the corporate tax rate, which it believes will spur growth and trickle down to workers.”

FACT: Corporate tax cuts overwhelmingly benefit the rich, not workers.

Economic Policy Institute: “As we’ve noted before, cuts to corporate rates are cuts to the rich, period.  But these are just the most-obvious tax cuts for the rich.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Most corporate rate cuts go to high-income investors and don’t ‘trickle down’ to workers.”

Wall Street Journal: “CBO, the Joint Committee On Taxation and the staff of the U.S. Treasury Department all say most of burden falls on owners of capital, meaning that investors, not workers, would get much of the benefit of a corporate tax cut.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed that companies would use a tax break on overseas profits to invest domestically and “invest in their workers”

IVANKA TRUMP: “This tax plan fixes that. And enables businesses to bring that money home to invest in their infrastructure and business right here and invest in their workers.” [Hannity, Fox News, 10/23/17]

FACT: A repatriation tax break for multinational corporations would not spur job creation or domestic investment.

Tax Foundation: “The problem with this argument is that there is little evidence that allowing companies to bring back money from overseas leads to higher investment in the United States in the long run.”

FACT: Companies would take advantage of a repatriation tax break to put money in the pockets of wealthy executives and shareholders, not workers.

Washington Post: “But there are a lot of reasons to be highly skeptical of Trump’s repatriation plan. Chief among them is that U.S. companies have already told the world what they would do if they were granted a cheaper way to bring back trillions from overseas — and it wouldn’t be hiring workers or making more investments in America.” 

Bloomberg: “Economists suggest that corporate executives would be more inclined to use a tax windfall to increase shareholders’ dividends, or to invest in automation that could limit the need for more workers in some industries.”

FACT: The 2004 repatriation tax holiday failed to help workers or create jobs.

MarketWatch: “Returned profits don’t necessarily provide a boost for labor, according to academics. A 2004 profit-repatriation effort didn’t lead to more jobs, but instead resulted in greater payouts for shareholders, according to a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.”

Washington Post: “The White House tried this once before, and the results were grim… It resulted in a great payday for CEOs and Wall Street shareholders but did almost nothing to help workers.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed the Republican tax proposal to increase the child tax credit was “well-designed” to make “a big difference in the lives of many families.”

The Hill: “Ivanka Trump also spoke about increasing the child tax credit at the event, which she praised as a ‘well-designed’ way to make ‘a big difference in the lives of many families.’”

FACT: The Republican plan would not expand the refundable portion of the child tax credit, so it would not help lower-income families.

New York Times’ Upshot: “But simply expanding the current credit delivers only modest benefits. That’s because the regular child tax credit is nonrefundable, which means that it’s valuable only to families with federal income tax liability… This is why large increases to the current child tax credit do not significantly change the balance of benefits under the framework.”

GARY COHN: “I think we said in our outline the existing is refundable and will stay refundable. Additional money put this will be nonrefundable. We want to encourage people to work. We want people to have taxable income to take the credit against.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed the Republican tax proposal would benefit families by doubling the standard deduction and expanding the child tax credit.

Penn Live: “Doubling the standard deduction for families will have a profound impact, [Ivanka] added. Trump is pushing to expand the current $1,000 tax credit, which allows families to choose how to spend the money in the ways that will make the biggest differences in their lives, she added.”

FACT: The Republican tax plan would offset the benefits of these provisions by eliminating personal exemptions and increasing rates on the lowest tax bracket, resulting in almost no direct benefit to the middle class.

Former CEA Chair Jason Furman: “On the individual side, the Republican plan offers almost no direct benefit to the middle class. Many details are still missing, but from what we know so far it would largely be a wash for most households. A larger standard deduction and child tax credit would roughly offset the elimination of personal exemptions and the increase in the lowest bracket from 10% to 12%.”

New York Times: “An ‘archetypical American family’ — which Mr. Williams described as a married couple with two children — might actually see its overall deductible income decrease. That family can deduct $28,900 under the current tax code, but just $24,000 under the Republican plan.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed the Republican tax proposal was “squarely targeted at creating jobs, creating growth and offering relief to our middle-income families.”

IVANKA TRUMP: “There are many elements of this tax plan that I think are squarely targeted at creating jobs and growth in this country and offering relief to our middle-income families.”

FACT: Many middle-income families could actually see a tax increase under Trump’s plan.

CNBC: “Despite repeated promises from Republican lawmakers that the plan is designed to provide relief to the middle class, nearly 30 percent of taxpayers with incomes between $50,000 and $150,000 would see a tax increase, according to the study by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.”

FACT: Tax cuts for corporations do not raise wages, spur investment, or create jobs.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Most corporate rate cuts go to high-income investors and don’t ‘trickle down’ to workers. Proponents of corporate rate cuts often claim workers will benefit because companies will invest more and therefore boost wages.”  

New York Times: “It’s a myth that corporate tax cuts mean more jobs.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed the Republican tax proposal had a “particular focus on middle-income America.”

IVANKA TRUMP: “Making it work for all Americans with a particular focus on middle income America. That is so important and what we are all fighting for.” [Hannity, Fox News, 10/23/17]

FACT: The Republican tax plan would be a massive windfall to the wealthy.

CNBC: “That’s the finding of an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, which crunched the numbers to come up with a preliminary estimate of the plan’s costs and beneficiaries.  The biggest winner would be the richest 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers, who would get more than half of the benefits of the plan, according to the center.”   

FACT: Trump’s proposal to eliminate the estate tax could save Ivanka and her family $1.1 billion.

New York Times: “If his assets — reportedly valued at $2.86 billion — were transferred after his death under today’s rules, his estate would be taxed at about 40 percent. Repealing the federal estate tax could save his family about $1.1 billion.”  

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed American companies “are not competitive” in the global marketplace because “we have the highest corporate taxes of any country in the developed world.”

IVANKA TRUMP: “We have to compete against other countries. We are not competitive. We have the highest corporate taxes of any country in the developed world.” [Hannity, Fox News, 10/23/17]

FACT: American multinational companies are already the most competitive in the world.

Washington Center For Equitable Growth: “Our Multinational Companies Are The Most Competitive On The Planet. The United States Has A Disproportionate Share Of The Forbes 2000 List Of Global Companies, And After-Tax Profits Are At Record Levels.”

FACT: The United States’ effective corporate tax rate was below average among developed nations.

Washington Post Fact Checker: “According to the Congressional Research Service, the effective rate for the United States is 27.1 percent, compared to an effective GDP-weighted average of 27.7 percent for the OECD.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed the Republican tax plan would eliminate special interest tax breaks to benefit “middle-income America.”

IVANKA TRUMP: “It's become thorough decades of lobbyists and special interest groups who added a nuance here, a page or idea here, part of the promise of this tax reform is cutting all of that out. Simplifying it. Democratizing it. Making it work for all Americans with a particular focus on middle income America.” [Hannity, Fox News, 10/23/17]

FACT: The Republican plan created new loopholes and tax code complexities that would benefit the wealthiest Americans.

CNN Money: “Meanwhile, the GOP introduces a large dose of complexity by proposing to tax ‘pass-through’ businesses — which include sole proprietorships and partnerships — at 25%, rather than the top individual tax rate of 39.6%. This reduced rate will incentivize businesses to restructure themselves as pass-throughs if they can.”

CNBC: “The Tax Policy Center says 88 percent of the benefit from a 25 percent pass-through rate would flow to the top 1 percent.”

CNN Money: “Another part of the GOP plan — known as ‘territorial taxation’ — would make profits earned overseas tax-free forever, which will always compare favorably to even the lowest corporate tax rate. That creates an incentive in the other direction, to classify income as foreign rather than domestic.”

LIE: Ivanka Trump claimed that because of the Trump administration’s regulatory rollback, “you see wage growth for the first time.” 

IVANKA TRUMP: “I think rolling back years, decades, of layer upon layer of regulation is freeing up business owners to invest in businesses. Invest on the people who work in their businesses. You see wage growth for the first time.”  [Hannity, Fox News, 10/23/17]

FACT: Wage growth was sluggish in the third quarter of 2017, and wage growth for skilled workers actually slowed under Trump.

Staffing Industry Analysts: “The US labor market posted slower growth in wages in the third quarter, according to the ADP Workforce Vitality Report, released today.”

Industry Week: “U.S. wage growth for skilled workers slowed slightly in 2017 after four consecutive years of strong wage increases.”