Capital Gains and Dividend Tax Cuts: No Boon to the Middle Class

The middle class has not received much benefit from the 2003 reduction of the top U.S. tax rate for capital gains and corporate stock dividends. Instead, according to a report by Citizens for Tax Justice, the advantage has gone overwhelmingly to the wealthiest Americans. In Ohio, the top 1 percent of taxpayers making an average of $955,400 a year will gain $14,298 in 2009. Meanwhile, the bottom 60 percent of Ohio taxpayers by income will average a gain of just $20. The study also demonstrates that the cut in taxes on investment income doesn’t cause federal revenue to increase, despite the myth to the contrary.

Full Report