The Republican tax bill punishes American families who use public schools

[Judi Lynn]

WRITTEN BY

Heather Timmons
OBSESSION

"America First"
16 mins ago

The US Senate tax bill that Republicans passed early this morning faces scathing criticism for the debt burden it creates for the next generation, the tax breaks it gives to the rich, and the hasty way it was cobbled together.

Its detractors have dubbed it a “historic tax heist,” a “scam” (paywall) that could push the US into another Great Depression, and “Washington at its worst.”

In many ways, the bill does favor the rich over the middle and lower class—it gives private jet owners a tax break, while destabilizing healthcare for millions of Americans by removing the individual mandate, as an example. Yet the provision that may impact the greatest number of US families is the bill’s treatment of children’s education.

America’s $634 billion public school system educates about 51 million kids from prekindergarten to 12th grade in 98,200 public schools nationwide. The vast majority of that budget, about 92%, comes from state and local taxes, with the remainder from federal programs mostly aimed at the most vulnerable school districts and students.

More:
https://qz.com/1145239/gop-tax-bill-2017-the-senate-republican-bill-punishes-american-families-for-using-public-schools/

[Igel]

1. The earnings in a 529 plan are exempt from federal taxes.

The income placed in them is taxed normally.

My kid is beneficiary of such a plan. There was no advantage to having the money transferred monthly from checking versus withheld from my paycheck, and there's no claiming it as a deduction against gross income. They're great programs, if you can beat the management fees, but only over the long term. It's unlikely that money put into a 529 will have appreciable earnings within a year or two.

The article closes triumphantly with a false conclusion based upon this misunderstanding. This doesn't inspire confidence in the rest of the reporting.