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"All these goodies were paid for in part by denying families healthcare," said the executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness. "The tradeoff couldn't be more clear or more cruel."
A report released on Monday by Americans for Tax Fairness found that the profits of America's biggest corporations surged by $100 billion last year and were roughly twice the total profits these companies reported in 2017.
The Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) report, which was based on data collected by Fortune, found that the 100 biggest companies in the U.S. recorded collective after-tax profits of $1.2 trillion during a time when American voters have consistently told pollsters they are having trouble paying for groceries.
Big tech companies led the way in terms of total profits last year, with Google parent company Alphabet raking in $100 billion in after-tax profits, followed by Apple with $94 billion in profits, Microsoft with $88 billion in profits, and Nvidia with $73 billion in profits. Holding company Berkshire Hathaway was the only non-tech firm to post such gaudy numbers, as its yearly profits in 2024 totaled $89 billion.
ATF noted that corporate America was raking in these big profits even before congressional Republicans passed their massive budget law that included even more tax cuts designed to benefit the country's largest companies.
David Kass, ATF's executive director, said the GOP's budget package looks even more extreme given what we now know about the financial health of corporate balance sheets.
"Most Americans know in their bones that huge corporations don't need any more tax cuts, but the newest data on the revenue and profits of the nation's biggest firms confirms that hunch," he said. "Among the giveaways to the rich and powerful in the recently enacted Trump-GOP tax scam are roughly $900 billion in loophole openers, ranging from accelerated depreciation to a more generous interest deduction. All these goodies were paid for in part by denying families healthcare, taking food from hungry kids, and boosting household utility prices. The tradeoff couldn't be more clear or more cruel."
ATF also contended that American workers have little to show for these corporate tax cuts, as "the nation's largest firms have spent $3.2 trillion on stock repurchases and $2.1 trillion on dividends" since the first GOP-passed corporate tax package came into law in 2017.
Polls have shown the GOP budget package, which was signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, to be extremely unpopular with voters. An analysis conducted recently by data journalist G. Elliott Morris found that the budget law "is likely the most unpopular budget ever, is the second most unpopular piece of key legislation since the 1990s, and the most unpopular key law, period, over the same period."
Big tech companies led the way in terms of total profits last year, with Google parent company Alphabet raking in $100 billion in after-tax profits, followed by Apple with $94 billion in profits, Microsoft with $88 billion in profits, and Nvidia with $73 billion in profits. Holding company Berkshire Hathaway was the only non-tech firm to post such gaudy numbers, as its yearly profits in 2024 totaled $89 billion.
ATF noted that corporate America was raking in these big profits even before congressional Republicans passed their massive budget law that included even more tax cuts designed to benefit the country's largest companies.
David Kass, ATF's executive director, said the GOP's budget package looks even more extreme given what we now know about the financial health of corporate balance sheets.
"Most Americans know in their bones that huge corporations don't need any more tax cuts, but the newest data on the revenue and profits of the nation's biggest firms confirms that hunch," he said. "Among the giveaways to the rich and powerful in the recently enacted Trump-GOP tax scam are roughly $900 billion in loophole openers, ranging from accelerated depreciation to a more generous interest deduction. All these goodies were paid for in part by denying families healthcare, taking food from hungry kids, and boosting household utility prices. The tradeoff couldn't be more clear or more cruel."
ATF also contended that American workers have little to show for these corporate tax cuts, as "the nation's largest firms have spent $3.2 trillion on stock repurchases and $2.1 trillion on dividends" since the first GOP-passed corporate tax package came into law in 2017.
Polls have shown the GOP budget package, which was signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump last month, to be extremely unpopular with voters. An analysis conducted recently by data journalist G. Elliott Morris found that the budget law "is likely the most unpopular budget ever, is the second most unpopular piece of key legislation since the 1990s, and the most unpopular key law, period, over the same period."
"It was never about efficiency, it's about Trump and his billionaire allies taking money from our pockets to make the tax system worse and line the pockets of big business elites in this predatory industry," said a spokesperson at Americans for Tax Fairness.
In a move backed by private tax-filing corporations, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump officially announced the shut down of the government's free Direct File service this week.
For two years under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the IRS allowed taxpayers in some states to file their taxes online using public software under a pilot program.
A report published in March by the Economic Security Project found that:
At maturity in five years, Direct File would save the average user $160 in filing fees and hours of their time each year, which saves Americans a total of $11 billion annually between filing fees and time costs. By breaking down barriers to filing, Direct File would also deliver up to $12 billion each year in additional tax credits to low-income families currently missing out.
In January, the direct file system was rolled out to 30 million Americans across 25 states, to rave reviews. According to a memo circulated within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the program was "beloved by its users," with a 94% satisfaction rate among those who used it.
But according to IRS Chairman Billy Long, who spoke at a tax summit Monday, it will not be made available again in 2026.
"You've heard of direct file, that's gone," Long gloated. "Big beautiful Billy wiped that out."
"I don't care about Direct File. I care about direct audit," he added, referring to his efforts to make it easier for businesses and individuals under tax audits to get updates on their status.
The budget legislation that Trump signed into law last month did not formally end Direct File, as Long suggested. However, it did allocate $15 million to the Treasury Department for a task force to study public-private partnership alternatives to replace Direct File. "Big beautiful Billy" likely referred to Long himself, whose IRS formally ended the program.
Long's announcement was the culmination of a months-long scheme by private tax-filing corporations like Intuit and H&R Block, and Republicans in government to kill Direct File.
As early as December, following Trump's reelection victory, GOP congresspeople began calling for the program's demise. Twenty-nine of them, who'd accepted a combined $1.8 million in campaign donations from the tax prep industry over their careers, signed onto a letter written by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) calling on Trump to issue a "day-one executive order" killing the program.
Long, himself a former congressman from Missouri, raised eyebrows in January 2025, shortly after he was named as Trump's nominee to lead the IRS. According to The Lever, he received a curious $137,000 worth of donations that he then used to pay himself back for a $130,000 loan he'd made to his failed 2022 campaign for the Senate. Around a third of the money came from tax consultancy firms.
In March, following mass layoffs at the IRS by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), staff working on the Direct File system were told to halt their work. Prior to that, Musk wrote on his social media app X that he had "deleted" 18F, the government agency working on the project.
Right after tax day in April, The Associated Press first reported that the administration was planning to end the program.
While consumer advocacy groups called the change a "big loss" for the public, the American Coalition for Taxpayer Rights, an astroturf group backed by tax-filing companies, thanked Smith, Edwards, and other GOP congresspeople "for their leadership" calling for the termination of the program.
The program was effectively dead for months, but Long's gleeful coroner's report this week made it official.
"Last year, Direct File saved taxpayers $5.6 million in tax preparation costs by allowing people to file their taxes for FREE," wrote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) Friday on X. "That's why tax preparation companies like... Intuit lobbied to get rid of it. Trump just gave them their wish."
Despite claims by GOP congresspeople that the program was "wasteful," it actually saved taxpayers much more money than it cost. According to the Economic Security Project's study, "For every dollar invested in the program, Direct File delivers $106 in benefits to American taxpayers, between savings on tax preparation fees and access to untapped tax credits."
"This move exposes what's really happening in Trump's administration," said David Kass, the executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness. "It was never about efficiency, it's about Trump and his billionaire allies taking money from our pockets to make the tax system worse and line the pockets of big business elites in this predatory industry."
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said Long is "knee-deep in tax scams, corruption and cover-ups."
The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted Thursday to confirm scandal-plagued Billy Long to serve as head of the Internal Revenue Service, an agency that he sought to abolish during his tenure in Congress.
Every Republican senator voted in favor of confirming President Donald Trump's IRS commissioner pick in the face of revelations that he was closely involved in promoting a fraud-riddled tax credit and allegations that he could be implicated in two separate bribery schemes.
In a floor speech ahead of Thursday's vote, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said that Long is "knee-deep in tax scams, corruption, and cover-ups" that should disqualify him from leading the IRS.
Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, pointed to a letter he sent earlier this week to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles detailing his concerns about the FBI's apparently lax background check on Long.
"Publicly available information raises very troubling questions of personal wrongdoing that merit serious and thorough investigation," Wyden wrote. "According to court documents, Mr. Long is implicated in a bribery conspiracy involving a healthcare company located in his Missouri district while he was a member of Congress. The case resulted in convictions and guilty pleas of more than a dozen people, including elected officials, businessmen, and lobbyists."
Democratic lawmakers also raised alarm over "unusually timed" donations that seven companies made to Long's defunct 2022 Senate campaign committee following news that he was nominated to lead the IRS.
"This ought to be an easy no," Wyden said Thursday. "It's one corruption bombshell after another with former Congressman Billy Long."
"Billy Long has a clear history of working to make it easier for corporations and the wealthy to skirt paying their fair share of taxes."
While representing Missouri's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House, Long co-sponsored legislation that proposed eliminating the IRS, repealing the federal income tax, and putting in place a regressive national sales tax.
Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), a progressive advocacy group, said Thursday that Long's confirmation "signals open season for wealthy tax cheats."
"Trump and Senate Republicans finally delivered a long-awaited return on investment to the billionaire backers that fund their party: an IRS chief with extreme views on tax policy and no interest in reining in wealthy tax cheats or helping working families," ATF executive director David Kass said in a statement. "With Long at the helm, it becomes even more critical to stop Trump's disastrous tax bill that cuts critical programs Americans depend on, like Medicaid and SNAP, to fund massive tax giveaways for billionaires."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, similarly warned that "tax cheats just received a huge gift."
"Billy Long has a clear history of working to make it easier for corporations and the wealthy to skirt paying their fair share of taxes," said Gilbert. "He has even supported abolishing the very agency he has now been tasked to lead—the agency meant to take the lead in cracking down on tax evasion and ensuring that government is sufficiently resourced to serve the public interest."
"Wall Street may celebrate his confirmation as IRS commissioner," Gilbert added, "but it is bad news for everyday people."