Now that experts have had a chance to parse Donald Trump’s tax proposals, it’s clear that one of the major beneficiaries would be Donald Trump:
TRUMP: “It reduces or eliminates most of the deductions and loopholes available to special interests and to the very rich. In other words, it’s going to cost me a fortune.”
THE FACTS: Only Trump and his accountant can be sure, since he does not specify in his proposal exactly which deductions and loopholes he plans to eliminate and has yet to release any of his tax returns. But it appears likely that Trump’s plan would be a financial boon for someone of his wealth. Trump and his wife would pay 25 percent, instead of the current 39.6 percent, on any income above $300,001. An income statement he released alongside his personal financial disclosure report this past summer reported his 2014 income as $362 million. His proposal to eliminate the 40 percent tax on inheritances of more than $5.4 million would allow him to pass on his estate to heirs tax-free, a savings worth billions given his estimated net worth of more than $10 billion. And by cutting 10 percentage points from the current corporate tax rate of 35 percent, the Trump Organization and its hundreds of subsidiaries would pay less – assuming they don’t already use tax strategies to reduce their effective rate below 15 percent.
Trump also promised his tax cuts wouldn’t worsen the deficit, but experts say that isn’t possible without eliminating major middle-class deductions like mortgage interest, charitable donations, state and local taxes, and taxing pensions and 401(k)s. The conservative Tax Foundation says Trump’s plan would increase the national debt by $10 trillion over the next decade. Read the story here and here.
Photo: Would you buy a used car from this man?