GOP Uses Higher Refunds and 'No Tax on Tips' to Sell Working Families Tax Cuts as Trump Downplays Iran War Inflation
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Republicans, led by former President Trump and GOP lawmakers, have spent Tax Day and the weeks leading up to the midterms pitching the 2025 Working Families Tax Cuts/One Big Beautiful Bill Act as tangible relief for working households, spotlighting a "no tax on tips" provision and expanded deductions for overtime, seniors and families. Treasury and IRS figures show more than 53 million filers have used at least one of the new breaks — roughly 6 million claimed the tip exemption, about 21 million used the overtime deduction and some 30 million seniors used an enhanced deduction — and the average federal refund this filing season is running a little over $3,400 (about an 11% increase, roughly $340-$350, from the same point last year). The GOP is using those numbers in swing states such as Nevada and Arizona, where Trump held roundtables and rallies aimed at tipped hospitality and overtime workers, and House Republicans have openly argued higher refunds will buoy them in the midterms.