2016 Presidential Race: Critics Say Donald Trump's Tax Plan Would Drastically Cut Taxes for Wealthy Americans
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump unveiled his tax plan on Monday, which aims to slash taxes across the board for millions of Americans and corporations alike.
The billionaire businessman promised that his tax plan would revamp the tax code, drastically cutting income taxes for Americans in all ranks on the wealth spectrum while raising taxes on hedge fund managers.
"It will provide major tax relief for middle income and for most other Americans. There will be a major tax reduction," Trump said Monday at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York, according to The Associated Press. "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."
Under Trump's tax plan, income taxes would be entirely eliminated for single Americans who earn less than $25,000 and married couples that make less than $50,000 a year.
"They get a new one page form to send the IRS saying, 'I win,'" reads Trump's tax plan, according to CNN.
Trump's plan also seeks to reduce business income taxes to 15 percent to encourage corporations to keep their headquarters and cash in the U.S., rather than going aboard in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
"No business of any size, from a Fortune 500 to a mom and pop shop will pay more than 15 percent of their business income in taxes," Trump said, NBC News reported.
Although Trump says his plan would raise taxes on "hedge fund guys" and high-income earners, in actuality, wealthier Americans would benefit from large tax reductions each year. Meanwhile, the highest marginal tax rate would be cut from the current 39.6 percent to 25 percent. The top percent of Americans would also see an end to the estate tax.
The real estate mogul has not described how he plans pay for a tax plan that appears to be really expensive. It is also unclear how much the plan would cost or what percentage of benefits would go to the ultra-wealthy.
Critics say Trump's tax plan appeals to the populist pockets of his party and would do little to change the existing tax code, since many low-income families already pay no federal taxes.
According to Tax Policy Center, about 45 percent of American households already do not pay federal income taxes, CNN reported. Trump's plan would only broaden the threshold, so that about 50 percent of households would be excluded from paying federal income taxes.
"Some of what Mr. Trump has done in his press conference is just sell us on one of the better features of what our income tax already does," said Alan Cole, an economist at the Tax Foundation. "It will probably add to the number of people who don't have to pay any income tax. That was already true of many people and he's just expanding the number of people."
According to AP, Steve Gill, a tax and accounting professor at San Diego State University, also notes that wealthy 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 American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "He strongly indicated in television interviews the rich wouldn't like this plan. The rich love this plan."
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