Hundreds of billions of dollars have poured back into the US
Bottom Line: On Monday I brought you the news about what tax reform has meant six months later. Among the highlights – 70% of companies have taken positive action that's benefited employees, consumers and the economy as a direct result of tax reform. But there's even more to the story. The hundreds of billions of dollars that have rolled back into the US through repatriation. New info from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows a record amount of repatriated money flowed back into the United States in first quarter of 2018 on back of tax reform having passed. Here's the comparison...
$305 billion repatriated Q1 2018
$38 billion repatriated Q1 2017
Not only is that $267 billion additional dollars flowing back into the US year over year, but the tax revenue generated from the repatriation is $46 billion as well. That's all upside to our economy and our treasury. It's also a reminder that historically reduced tax rates lead to an increase in tax revenue based on increased economic activity (in contrast to the political narrative of those who opposed the tax cuts).
As a reminder here's what's happened with tax cuts previously:
The JFK tax cuts went into effect in 1964. Average tax rates were cut by 20%. Here's what happened to the federal budget:
The federal revenue in 1963 was $107 billion, in 1964 $113 billion, in 1965 $117 billion, in 1966 $131 billion in 1967: $149 billion
Revenue to the government grew by 39% in the five years after the JFK tax cuts
The Reagan tax cuts went into effect in 1981 and averaged a 25% reduction in rates - here's the five-year outlook on revenue:
FY 1981 - $599 billion, FY 1982 - $618 billion, FY 1983 - $601 billion, FY 1984 - $666 billion, FY 1985 - $734 billion
Revenue to the government grew by 23% in the five years after the Reagan cuts
Once again, we're seeing revenue increases and hundreds of billions of dollars of money flowing into the United States that wouldn't have had it not been for the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.