Workers across the U.S. are beginning to see bigger paychecks as take-home pay increases due to the Republican tax reform law.
Middle-class workers are happy with the extra cash, which they are now receiving as employers implement new IRS withholding guidelines, which dictate how much employers withhold from pay for federal taxes, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Employers have until Feb. 15 to make the changes, so workers who have not yet seen bigger paychecks may do so in the coming weeks.
Wayne Love works in managed care in Spring Hill, Florida, and got an extra $200 in his paycheck last week. He said the money will help offset a $300 increase in the cost of his health insurance.
"I have heard time and again that the middle class is getting crumbs, but I'll take it!" Love told the AP by email, referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and other top Democrats who have referred to the worker bonuses and wage hikes due to the GOP tax overhaul as "crumbs" and "so pathetic."
"In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic. It's so pathetic," Pelosi said last month.
The AP listed multiple examples of workers across the country receiving more pay due to the tax overhaul, which President Donald Trump signed into law in December:
Julia Ketchum, a secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week. She didn't think her pay would go up at all, let alone this soon. That adds up to $78 a year, which she said will more than cover her Costco membership for the year.
And Todd Anderson of Texas and his Fiance, who are both educators, got an extra $200 in their paychecks combined that they plan to use to cover the costs of a second baby on its way.
Middle-class families on average are expected to see a $970 tax cut this year, adding to their after-tax income by about 1.6 percent, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
The AP noted that Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), on the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.), on the House Ways and Means Committee, both Democrats, have asked the Government Accountability Office to check that workers' paychecks are not being systematically underwithheld, "which would make paychecks bigger now but lead to a bigger bill at tax time."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has estimated the new tax rules will give about 90 percent of American workers more take-home pay, called such concerns "ridiculous."
Aerospace engineer Jefferey Snively was skeptic about his four-percent bump in his latest paycheck due to lower tax rates, saying he thinks the tax reform plan was more about the corporations and the wealthy than workers like him.
But he is happy about the extra cash.
"It's tough to be upset about more money in my pocket," Snively said.