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As the midterm elections approach, Republicans are touting President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" to voters as they fight to keep slim majorities in Congress. But certain Americans have benefited more from Trump's tax breaks than others, policy experts say. Trump's legislation, also known as the "Working Families Tax Cuts," made permanent his 2017 tax changes while adding new tax breaks, including deductions for tip income, overtime earnings, seniors and auto loan interest, among others. The bill also added a bigger federal deduction limit for state and local taxes, or SALT, for filers who itemize. In prepared remarks before the House Committee on Financial Services this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers the legislation delivered tax relief "directly to millions of low- and middle-income Americans." More than 64 million tax returns claimed at least one of Trump's "signature new tax cuts" — the deductions for tips, overtime, auto loan interest or the enhanced senior deduction, Bessent said this week. Trump's tax cuts were also a popular theme throughout the Republicans' midterm convention in Dallas this month. However, these tax provisions, and others, "hit households differently," which means the impact varied based on a family's unique situation, Joseph Rosenberg, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told CNBC. White House spokesman Kush Desai told CNBC in an email that "tens of millions of Americans have taken advantage of at least one of these signature provisions, and President Trump will continue to tout this historic achievement for the American people." Here's a breakdown of who benefited most from Trump's tax breaks, according to policy experts. Extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts Trump's legislation made permanent his changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which included lower tax brackets, bigger standard deductions, a more generous child tax credit and a higher estate and gift tax exemption, among other provisions. Without extensions, some 62% of Americans would have seen tax increases in 2026 when these provisions were scheduled to expire, according to the Tax Foundation. "A clear majority of the benefit across the board" came from making these tax breaks permanent versus the new deductions, said Garrett Watson, vice president of federal tax policy with the Tax Foundation. But this was "extending the status quo," so many taxpayers won't feel the difference, he said. Trump's new tax deductions The new deductions, which were floated on the 2024 presidential campaign trail, phase out, or get smaller, based on certain income thresholds. "Those all go toward specific taxpayers," Watson said. "For certain taxpayers, that may have made a big difference in their year-over-year tax liability." For example, the average tips deduction was over $7,000, and the average senior deduction was more than $7,500, according to the latest Treasury data. Deductions reduce the income on which you pay taxes. But these tax breaks won't generate a refund if you have no balance due. That means the lowest earners are less likely to benefit from deductions, since they may not owe taxes, experts say. Trump's legislation also significantly increased the SALT deduction limit, which applies to filers who itemize. For 2025, the SALT deduction cap increased to $40,000, up from $10,000 in 2024. The Treasury has not released data on SALT deduction claims, but some data points to higher refunds in high-tax states, such as California and New Jersey. This could suggest these filers received a boost from the higher SALT deduction, according to Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. The bigger SALT deduction is most beneficial to upper-middle-income to upper-income earners because it starts to phase out at $500,000, Watson said. How Trump's cuts affected tax refunds The average tax refund size was watched closely throughout the tax season as one potential metric of how Americans fared from the 2025 tax changes. As of May 8, the average refund for individual returns was $3,276 for the 2026 filing season, up 11.5% from roughly the same time last year, according to the latest IRS data. However, tax refunds or balances due reflect the difference between taxes owed and paid throughout the previous year. Those amounts can vary from year to year based on paycheck withholdings, earnings, tax situation changes and other factors. As the midterm elections get closer, some policy experts say it's difficult to predict whether Trump's tax breaks will affect voters at the ballot box. Nearly half of Americans say they can't explain Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a Politico poll that surveyed about 2,100 U.S. adults in July.
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