In a tweet last week, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) incorrectly blamed the 2017 Republican tax law for an 8.4 percent decrease in tax refunds processed so far this filing season. In fact, the decrease is mainly the result of changes to IRS withholding tables, meaning most Americans, while receiving a smaller refund, had little variance in their overall tax liability. The Washington Post awarded Harris' statement four Pinocchios.
Harris' tweet was an error, but much of the reaction online demonstrated a lack of empathy for the economic reality of many American taxpayers. Legislators certainly shouldn't encourage people to confuse their refund with their overall tax liability, but policy experts shouldn't criticize lower-income Americans for reacting strongly when those refunds are not what they expected.
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