With little public scrutiny (the careful and detailed examination of something in order to
get information about it細看，仔細審查), the Trump administration is handing out (to
give something to each person in a group or place分發，發放)hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to some of
the country’s most profitable (making
or likely to make a profit有盈利的；有益的，結合前面的意思即最賺錢的)companies and wealthiest investors.
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service,
through a serious of new notices and proposed regulations, are giving breaks to giant private equity( /ˈek.wə.t̬i/ the value of a company, divided into many equal
parts owned by the shareholders, or one of the equal parts into which the value
of a company is divided（公司的）股本，股票值;股票/大型私募基金 )firms, crypto
companies, foreign real estate investors, insurance providers and a
variety of multinational
corporations.
The primate target: The administration is
rapidly gutting (to remove the inside parts and contents of a building,
usually so that it can be decorated in a completely new way（通常指為了裝修）拆除（房屋）的內部/削弱) a 2022 law intended to ("Intended to" 的中文意思是「打算做某事」、「旨在」或「被用於」等，取決於上下文。) ensure that a silver
of the country’s most profitable corporations pay at least some federal income
tax. The provision, the
corporate alternative minimum tax, was passed by Democrats and signed
into law by President Joe Biden. It sought to stop corporations like Microsoft, Amazon and
Johnson & Johnson from being able to report big profits
to shareholders yet low tax liabilities to the federal government. It was projected to ("Was projected to" means that something was
predicted or expected to happen in the future, based on current information or
past trends. This phrase is used to describe a plan, estimate, or forecast for
future events or outcomes.) raise $222 billion over a decade.
But the succession of notices the Treasury and IRS have
issued beginning this summer means the tax could bring in a fraction
(a small part of something, or a small amount 極小的部分)of that.
These breaks (「breaks 措施」這個詞彙通常是指「暫停措施」或「休息措施」，這個詞在不同情境下有不同的意思，主要取決於上下文，例如法律程序中的暫停，或者工作中的休息時間。) come in addition to
the roughly $4 trillion package
of tax cuts that
President Donald Trump signed into law in July. The legislation, passed
entirely by Republicans, heavily benefits businesses and the ultrawealthy.
(「Ultra wealthy」（超富裕）通常是指身價至少達到 3000 萬美元的個人。他們是全球最富有的一小部分人，並且他們的資產狀況通常比一般投資人更複雜。) It is projected to add trillions of dollars to
the federal deficit (the total amount by which money spent is
more than money received赤字;逆差;虧損)and came with steep
cuts to health care for the elderly and food stamps for the poorest
Americans.
With its various tax relief provisions, the
administration is now effectively adding hundreds of billions of dollars in new breaks for big
businesses and investors. The Treasury is empowered to ("Is
empowered to" means having the official authority, legal right, or
confidence to do something.) write rules to help the IRS carry out tax laws passed
by Congress. But the aggressive (showing anger and a willingness to
attack other people好鬥的;富於攻擊性的;挑釁的)actions of the Trump administration raise questions about whether it
is exceeding its legal authority.
Trump and congressional Republicans have
attacked federal workers as instruments of the “deep state,” exercising
power beyond anything authorized by the law. Now the administration is doing
the same thing, several tax experts said, undermining laws that hit the ultrawealthy and big
companies.
(Jesse Drucker)
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