Republican front-runner Trump proposes tax cuts for all

[webfact]

Republican front-runner Trump proposes tax cuts for all
By JILL COLVIN and NICHOLAS RICCARDI

NEW YORK (AP) — After weeks of vowing to raise taxes on "hedge fund guys" and high-income earners, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump unveiled a tax plan Monday that would cut rates across the board and reduce the amount paid by wealthiest Americans and corporations into the U.S. Treasury.

The plan, which Trump said would "provide major tax relief for middle-income and for most other Americans," appears certain to come with a significant price tag that experts said would likely add to the national debt, despite Trump's assurances.

"There will be a major tax reduction," Trump said at a news conference at his Trump Tower skyscraper in Manhattan. "It'll simplify the tax code. It'll grow the American economy at a level that it hasn't seen for decades, and all of this does not add to our debt or our deficit."

The plan Trump unveiled proposes eliminating income taxes entirely for millions of single Americans earning less than $25,000 and married couples earning less than $50,000 a year. Individuals would receive a new one-page form to send the IRS saying, "I win."

Wealthier Americans would also see large reductions in their annual tax bill. Under Trump's four-bracket plan, the highest marginal tax rate would be cut from the current 39.6 percent to 25 percent.

Businesses — from major corporations to mom-and-pop shops — would also see their rates slashed to no more than 15 percent, down from the current corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Trump also said he would eliminate the estate tax.

The billionaire real estate mogul said he plans to pay for the tax cuts by eliminating and reducing unspecified deductions and loopholes, both on the "very rich" and corporations. He also wants to eliminate the so-called carried interest loophole that allows managers of hedge funds and private equity firms to pay a lower tax rate than most individuals.

"In other words, it's going to cost me a fortune," Trump said.

Tax experts rejected that analysis. Steve Gill, a tax and accounting professor at San Diego State University, said his quick calculation found that as a group, Americans making more than $200,000 a year would pay $400 billion to $500 billion less in taxes under Trump's plan.

"This is not a serious plan," said Michael Strain, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "He strongly indicated in television interviews the rich wouldn't like this plan. The rich love this plan."

Kyle Pomerleau, an economist at the Tax Foundation, which advocates for lower rates, said Trump's tax cuts are far larger than those proposed by any other Republican candidate and could easily cost more than $7 trillion over the next decade. That'd be double the cost of the proposal from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

"It looks mostly like Bush's plan, except it is a much, much larger tax cut," Pomerleau said. "The Trump tax cut is bigger than what we've seen so far from Republican candidates."

Trump said the changes he wants to make to the U.S. tax code would not add to the annual federal budget deficit and the overall national debt, in part because his plan would bring in new sources of revenue to the Treasury.

Among them: a one-time tax of 10 percent on money corporations are holding overseas that is brought back to the U.S, and the elimination of the ability of companies to defer taxes on income earned overseas. Estimates peg the amount of money U.S. firms have overseas at more than $2 trillion, although Trump said he believes the figure is far higher.

Trump also predicted his plan would "create tremendous numbers of jobs" and spark the economy to grow at least 3 percent a year, and as much as 5 or 6 percent. "We're going to have growth that will be tremendous," he said.

Most economists say such a high growth rate is unrealistic. But even under the most optimistic scenarios for growth, the size of Trump's tax cuts will keep the government from raising as much revenue as does the current tax system, said Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform, a low-tax advocacy group that Trump consulted as he developed his proposal.

"It just doesn't square up," Ellis said, even as he praised the proposal for lowering tax rates.

Gill said no amount of eliminated deductions would be able to make up for the large amounts of money top earners would no longer pay in taxes under Trump's newly lowered rates.

"You can't make that up in any way other than shifting the burden to the middle class" or running deficits, Gill said.

In fact, he said, some isolated taxpayers could pay more. For example, if Trump eliminates the deduction for medical payments, certain households with high hospital bills could find themselves owing more money despite lower overall tax rates.

Trump said he would couple his tax plan with savings from cutting wasteful government spending, by renegotiating trade deals and demanding reimbursement from America's allies for the cost of U.S. military protection. He vowed his administration "will be balancing budgets and getting them where they should be."

The Congressional Budget Office projects this fiscal year's federal deficit will be $426 billion, meaning Trump would need to find that much in potential spending cuts if his tax plan was revenue-neutral in order to balance the budget.

"We are reducing taxes, but at the same time if I win, if I become president, we will be able to cut so much money and have a better country," he said.
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Riccardi reported from Denver, Colorado.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-29

[noitom]

Let him identify his cuts. If he proposes to ferret out and eliminate fraud, bureaucracy, duplication and corruption in federal government, this plan could make sense.

[craigt3365]

The US tax code is way too complicated. Too many loop holes created by special interest groups.

[stevenl]

The US tax code is way too complicated. Too many loop holes created by special interest groups.

I think that is the case in many developed countries. Solving that is not easy though, but will require closing the loopholes and reasonable cuts to compensate.

The present proposal dies not look reasonable and is lacking on the solutions, just full with empty promises and rhetoric.

[Seastallion]

"Here you go kiddies, here's some lollies for you. Vote for me. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the lollies, but don't worry your pretty little heads about that. Daddy will sort it out. Vote for me."

[Credo]

I fully expect to hear him say 'So let them eat cake' at any moment.

[bamukloy]

"Here you go kiddies, here's some lollies for you. Vote for me. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the lollies, but don't worry your pretty little heads about that. Daddy will sort it out. Vote for me."

yes, kinda reminds you of vote buying, doesnt it?

Only difference is, with the 500baht per person system they get it up front lol

[peterjackson]

Now he's sounding like a politician. Didn't take long.

[FangFerang]

Trump's grasp of national scale economics is laughable.

[godden]

Hr's got my vote and i'm not even American.

[steelepulse]

"Here you go kiddies, here's some lollies for you. Vote for me. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the lollies, but don't worry your pretty little heads about that. Daddy will sort it out. Vote for me."

Sounds like a certain ex politician with the first name starting with a T.

[hawker9000]

It should be so easy. A flat tax. No deductions, no exemptions, no loopholes, no tax forms, no exceptions. Revert the IRS to a small, obscure, powerless, govt agency. If people want to debate taxes, all they have to argue about is the single universal rate that applies to everybody. The current system is just expensive, non-productive, make-work for tax lawyers & accountants and an excuse for govt prying into every little thing.

[Jingthing]

Can't remove the mortgage interest deduction.

Trump is smart to talk about tax simplification.

I wish all the candidates in both parties would get serious about this.

But just talking about it doesn't mean it will ever happen even if the people talking about it are elected.

[Thaidream]

Trump has no real idea how to simply the tax code and make the wealthy pay their fair share because he is one of the main beneficiaries of a system that takes the life blood out of the middle class and rewards the wealthy. The current tax code is almost 80,000 pages long. Very few understand it and very few actually can do their own taxes. When a system becomes so onerous and regressive that the average taxpayer can't figure it out it is time to get rid of the IRS and replace it with a new agency that is not bloated or oppressive. Right now, when you ask the IRS a question regarding the tax code- you may not even get the correct answer, after you have waited an hour on the phone to actually get a human being. What a great legacy the politicians have left us!!

[Berkshire]

It should be so easy. A flat tax. No deductions, no exemptions, no loopholes, no tax forms, no exceptions. Revert the IRS to a small, obscure, powerless, govt agency. If people want to debate taxes, all they have to argue about is the single universal rate that applies to everybody. The current system is just expensive, non-productive, make-work for tax lawyers & accountants and an excuse for govt prying into every little thing.

Easy to say, hard to do. Everyone has their own special interest. Try to eliminate the mortgage deduction and the real estate industry will be up in arms. Try to eliminate deductions for donations and all the charitable institutions will be up in arms. Deductions for tuition, work-related expenses, capital losses...the list is endless.

As someone else has said, if the government can somehow fix the waste, fraud, and abuse that goes on, the US could probably eliminate the national debt in a few short years.

[connda]

With a $18 Trillion plus deficit. Ah-huh. Right.

[Berkshire]

With a $18 Trillion plus deficit. Ah-huh. Right.

Ok, a bit of an exaggeration. But the point is that there are massive waste, fraud, and abuse in the system. Medicaid/medicare fraud alone is probably in the hundreds of billions. Clearly I don't have exact figures, don't think anyone does. Not to mention tax evaders, pork barrel spending, corrupt defense contractors....too depressing to think about.

[elgordo38]

"Here you go kiddies, here's some lollies for you. Vote for me. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for the lollies, but don't worry your pretty little heads about that. Daddy will sort it out. Vote for me."

Its easy to find the money just crank up the printing presses. I watched Rick the trickster Perry on Faux news saying that the Donald will soon drop out and then it will be business as normal. People will again relate to "the message" i.e. the same bullshit they have been spoon feeding the voters for years and obviously does not work and obviously the people are fed up with. What world is this guy living in? Its game over clean up your act or face the consequences. Draw your own conclusions.

[notmyself]

With a $18 Trillion plus deficit. Ah-huh. Right.

I don't believe that the U.S. has a 18T deficit.

[wabothai]

I wonder how he plans to outsmart Putin.

[Jingthing]

OK, I just heard that Trump has come out in favor of universal health care. A position more like Bernie Sanders than ANY republican. This kind of thing could make things really interesting.

I don't think many people realize because of the insane Tea Party reactionary backlash to "Obamacare" which certainly is nothing close to universal health care, but REAL single payer health care polls very well.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Jingthing

[Shiver]

With a $18 Trillion plus deficit. Ah-huh. Right.

I don't believe that the U.S. has a 18T deficit.

It is 18.1T debt, not deficit.

Deficit is somewhere in the region of 400-500 billion (not sure of exact number).

Edited September 29, 2015 by Shiver

[quandow]

I fully expect to hear him say 'So let them eat cake' at any moment.

THAT will be Fiorina, wicked witch from hell.

[notmyself]

With a $18 Trillion plus deficit. Ah-huh. Right.

I don't believe that the U.S. has a 18T deficit.

It is 18.1T debt, not deficit.

Deficit is somewhere in the region of 400-500 billion (not sure of exact number).

So when someone says deficit rather then debt, I should assume they have no idea what they are on about?

How is the deficit going? Last I heard it has been going down for years but I could be wrong. Not at American which I guess you know.

[Thaidream]

Real single payer healthcare in the United States is the way to go. The mechanism is already in place with medicare. All that has to happen is the expansion to every American. Those that are employed pay a percentage of their income just like we do now for medicare. Those that are not employed pay nothing. In that way you have universal health care. Of course insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry would fight it tooth and nail. They don't want the gravy train to be derailed. Health care for all should be an inalienable right. Why should anyone profit off the misery of another human being. Europe has had national healthcare for decades and so has Japan. America is way behind other Nations on this issue. Too much greed runs industry and business in the United States as well as buying the politicians who propagate it.

[boomerangutang]

Trump is going the route of Reagan and Bush Sr. Both campaigned on less taxes, and both won. However, both actually RAISED taxes after they got in office. Trump needs to understand what taxes are for. There is money coming in and money needed to be spent. Reps and Dems are always talking about what federal programs they would cut, but in reality, they can't cut anything, and instead are always raising expenditures. If I was president, I would propose cutting back many programs. The only candidate who comes close to being able to do that is Sanders. Trump will raise expenditures as has every other Republican in the past 50 years. Dems also. The creed for polititians, Trump included: "If there's a problem, throw money at it."

[Jingthing]

Well, Sanders has no chance of being elected president, even if nominated which is very unlikely as well.

Trump on the other hand has a real chance of being nominated (though still probably NOT), but if he is, who knows?

These new policy announcements have wide appeal, across parties. Watch out.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Jingthing

[Chicog]

Trump is going the route of Reagan and Bush Sr. Both campaigned on less taxes, and both won. However, both actually RAISED taxes after they got in office. Trump needs to understand what taxes are for. There is money coming in and money needed to be spent. Reps and Dems are always talking about what federal programs they would cut, but in reality, they can't cut anything, and instead are always raising expenditures.

They could start by eliminating subsidies to industries that don't need them.

[cookee68]

Go trump

[louse1953]

So the bribing begins,a bit early i rekon,most voters will forget after a week.