Thread by @JustinElliott

NEW: Confidential tax records show how Donald Trump’s tax cut for “small business” showered cash on some of the country’s richest families

The latest from The Secret IRS Files, by me and @RobertFaturechi:

propublica.org/article/secret… (thread)

2/ The pass-through deduction was a key part of Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul, pitched as helping “Main Street.”

Among the biggest winners: media mogul Michael Bloomberg, the family that owns engineering giant Bechtel, and the heirs of Houston pipeline billionaire Dan Duncan.

3/ We found that, in the first year of the tax break alone, just 82 super-rich households collectively walked away with more than *$1 billion* in total savings.

The new deduction lasts for eight years.

4/ The Trump administration had consistently pitched the pass-through deduction as directed at “small businesses.”

Here’s Trump himself:

5/ A recent study by Treasury economists confirms the benefits of the new deduction for “small businesses” mostly went to the top 1% of Americans (by income) in 2018:

6/ It’s long been understood that the deduction was the result of a flurry of midnight deals and last-minute language changes.

But the IRS records allow us to see the dark side of the moon: precisely how much money specific billionaires reaped from the final text of the law.

7/ Companies like the engineering giant @Bechtel spent heavily on lobbying to shape Trump’s tax bill to its benefit.

Records we obtained through a FOIA lawsuit show the company meeting with Justin Muzinich, Treasury’s point man for the bill.

8/ In the final rush to finish the Trump tax bill, someone inserted eight words that had not been in either the House or Senate versions.

The language extended the new deduction to engineering firms, guaranteeing the Bechtels a massive tax cut.

9/ We found that Marc Gerson, a lobbyist for both Bechtel and an engineering trade group of which Bechtel is a member, has since taken credit for this change

10/ And, thanks to the IRS records, we know the vast sums at stake.

In 2018, company CEO Brendan Bechtel and his two siblings netted deductions of $111 million from the pass-through provision.

Brendan alone got a deduction of more than $64 million.

11/ Brendan Bechtel has since emerged as a critic of Biden proposals to pay for infrastructure with tax hikes

12/ A spokesperson for Bechtel Corporation didn’t respond to questions about the company’s lobbying. A representative of the family’s investment office didn’t respond to requests to accept questions about the family’s taxes. Gerson didn’t respond to requests for comment.

13/ Here’s the full story:

propublica.org/article/secret…

Thanks to @lhwaldron @CarsonKessler @JeffErnsthausen @paulkiel @emsimani Doris Burke @tracyweber @lrsnwlkr

14/ And thanks to our general counsel, Jeremy Kutner, who handled the FOIA lawsuit against Treasury to get records that speak to how this major law was shaped. You can read some of those here:

documentcloud.org/projects/treas…

15/ If you know anything we should about pass-throughs and taxes, including 199A, we want to hear from you.

projects.propublica.org/tips/help-us-r…