Washington D.C — According to a recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) featured in USA Today, economic policies from Washington have raised costs for nearly every group of Americans – except for the richest of the rich. The report examines the impact of the Republican Tax Law, the elimination of ACA tax credits, tariffs, the war in Iran, and more, and concludes that everyone but the top 1% of earners ended up worse off.
This report comes as Americans continue to face sky-high gas and diesel prices, grocery prices are through the roof, and consumer sentiment nears an all-time low. Republicans in Congress have voted for each of the cost-raising policies in the report, including the Republican Tax Law, ending health care tax credits, and allowing tariffs and the Iran War to continue.
“This report validates a feeling that millions of working families have had – that policies from Washington are making life more expensive for them, while helping the ultra-wealthy get even wealthier,” said Unrig Our Economy Campaign Director Leor Tal. “From higher health care costs to skyrocketing gas prices to rising grocery bills, working Americans are getting squeezed on all sides. This report shows that working families have had to bear the brunt of higher costs, while the ultra-rich get richer.”
USA Today: Trump’s policies raised costs for all but the top 1%, report says.
Key Points:
- The Trump administration’s economic policies have driven up taxes and costs for all but the wealthiest 1% of Americans, according to a new analysis from an economic think tank.
- A typical American consumer, someone in the middle 20% by income, will pay about $1,700 more in taxes and other costs in 2026 because of Trump’s policies, the report found. The poorest 20% will pay about $750 more.
- Only the top 1% of earners will pay less: $12,560 less, according to the report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).
- The Oct. 8 release focuses on three major policy changes under the second Trump administration: new tax provisions enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits from the COVID-19 era, and price increases triggered by tariffs, the Iran war and immigration actions.
- Those added costs may help explain why consumer confidence stands near an all-time low, and why household debt is rising.
- “No matter how much the Trump administration touts the tax cuts that they’ve enacted, they can’t get around the fact that they’ve caused increased costs that more than offset those tax cuts by a lot for most people, except for the rich,” said Steve Wamhoff, federal tax policy director at ITEP.
- ITEP estimates Trump’s other “price-increasing” policies, including tariffs, immigration crackdowns and waging war in Iran, will cost the same middle-income consumer $1,850 in 2026.
- Another major policy shift covered in the report is the expiration of COVID-era health care tax credits that lowered the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans under the Affordable Care Act.
- The ITEP analysis counts that as a policy decision by the Trump administration, one that will cost the average middle-income American $230 in 2026.
- But the biggest new cost to most Americans, the report says, comes from new Trump policies that raised consumer prices: tariffs, the Iran war and restrictive immigration policies.
- The report compares actual price increases in the second Trump administration with inflation projections from the Congressional Budget Office when he reclaimed the presidency. Trump’s policies will cost middle-income Americans an extra $1,850 in 2026, the report says.
- Add it all up, the ITEP report says, and nearly every group of American earners will pay more in taxes and added costs in 2026 because of Trump’s economic policies.
- The poorest 20% by income will pay an extra $750, the report says. The middle 20% will pay an extra $1,700. Everyone else, up to the 98th percentile by income, pays at least an extra $1,000.
- The wealthiest 1%, by contrast, will spend $12,560 less in taxes and other costs in 2026.
- Why would the top 1%, alone, save money from Trump’s policies?
- The reason, ITEP says, is the Trump tax cuts. Inflationary policies will cost the top 1% an extra $15,990 in 2026, the report says. But new tax cuts will save them $28,550.
To learn more about the campaign, visit UnrigOurEconomy.com or contact press@unrigoureconomy.com
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About Unrig Our Economy
Unrig Our Economy is a national campaign to fix the rules of our economy to make it work for working people. We know that when the middle class does well, all of us do well — which is why we’re fighting on behalf of working Americans and holding corporations, their wealthy executives, and the politicians who enable them accountable.