WASHINGTON – According to President Donald Trump, this tax day should be a relief to working families as they see lower taxes. However, experts cautioned that many Black working-class Americans will face many negative consequences during the first tax season when the effects of President Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act” will take effect.
Also known as “H.R. 1,” the bill included hundreds of provisions that changed tax rates, increased the federal deficit, and cut social aid programs like Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Over the past eight months, reports have found that the bill disproportionately harms the working and middle-class Black community.
“We see that, with the passage of H.R. 1, that even with race-neutral attempts at policy change, that Black people uniquely bear many of the costs,” Portia Allen-Kyle, a civil rights attorney and social justice advocate, said in a recent webinar hosted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “We’re thinking about affordability for Black families, thinking beyond wages, housing, food, childcare, and accounting for the ways that Black people interact with government.”
One of the most significant ways the bill accomplished this is through extending Trump’s 2017 “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” also known as the Trump Tax Cuts. Previously set to expire in 2025, the budget extended these changes to 2028.
“This really is a second part, or a sequel, to the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act,” Goldburn P. Maynard Jr., a law professor at the University of Connecticut, said. “The two pieces of legislation should be beaded together.”
The Trump Tax Cuts increased the amount of State and Local Income Tax deductions an individual can take from their taxable income, raising it from $10,000 to $40,000. This results in the federal government having less revenue to use on social services. In the case of Trump’s budget, less social service revenue led to cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other food assistance programs.
“When you combine these policy choices with tariffs, the decision to tax consumer goods and refuse to extend healthcare credits, Black households continue to feel the squeeze,” Allen-Kyle said. “We know that regressive tax schemes always hit Black households the hardest.”
In a Tuesday interview on Capitol Hill, Sen.Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, expressed his concerns. “This is Donald Trump’s economy – it’s not working for anybody except his billionaire friends,” he said.
At a recent White House event celebrating Black History Month, Trump claimed the opposite. “Our bill, our Beautiful Bill… this will help millions of African American children and ensure that no child is condemned to a failing government,” he said. One of the biggest ways this will manifest, according to Trump, is through families paying less in taxes.
With the federal government paying for fewer social services, states will now have to bear the burden of covering these additional costs if they want the services to continue, according to Whitney Jemison, the director of state fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“We’re really facing dual threats coming into 2026. There’s H.R. 1, and all of the fallout from H.R. 1 based on all of the new costs and responsibilities that the bill shifted onto states,” Jemison said.
With states either having to pay more to support social services or cut them altogether, a secondary consequence is often higher prices and fees for services and goods. “Increased fees on various services… fall disproportionately on low-income households that are most often, in most states, Black households,” Jemison said.
One such example is DC native Malleek Williams. After experiencing homelessness and unemployment for the past two years and relying on social services, such as Medicaid and SNAP, Williams is worried about what cuts to these services would mean for him.
“The cost of life is becoming more expensive for the low-income/disadvantaged, such as myself,” Williams said. “I don’t want to go out there and commit a crime or steal. I don’t want to do any of that nonsense to survive…food stamps are the better route to take.”
Williams is not alone in facing recent unemployment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of living rose 2.4% in the past year, and Black unemployment currently stands at 7.1%, compared to the overall unemployment rate of 4.3%.
“There’s no question that the wealth gap is increasing under Donald Trump, impacting communities of color, other marginalized communities,” Warnock said. “Black women literally lost hundreds of thousands of jobs as a result of the Draconian cuts under DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).”
Trump claims opposing statistics. “And since I took office, African American employment has increased by 182,000, the highest ever, jobs -- 182,000. Nearly half a million Black Americans have rejoined the labor force since we took office. Half a million,” he said.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, unemployment has increased for Black Americans by around 1.1% under the Trump administration so far. However, many experts remain hopeful that despite new challenges, affected families will persevere.
“What I see ahead is immense possibility. It will require imagination, courage, and resources, but appreciate this timely conversation, focusing on the unique experiences of Black households,” Latoya B. Parker, a senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, concluded.
Olivia Ardito is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
