Tag: Trump tax plan

What Trump doesn’t say about his own tax plan

The following article by David Cay Johnston was posed on the Salon.com website April 20, 2018:

The Republicans didn’t reform the tax system — they blew it up

McConnell-Trump-Ryan

In a Tax Day essay under the byline of Donald Trump, the USA Today newspaper has allowed the 45th president to tell an utterly misleading story about the tax “reform” law he signed into law in December. The calculated deceptions in this piece matter a lot because the front page of that same newspaper declares “Exclusive: GOP banks on tax cuts to keep  majority in Congress.”

So, let’s examine what someone wrote for Trump as he campaigns for a second term and a Congress controlled by Republicans who will not hold him accountable for anything. Continue reading “What Trump doesn’t say about his own tax plan”

Kansas Tried a Tax Plan Similar to Trump’s. It Failed.

The following article by Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website October 10, 2017:

Gov. Sam Brownback, center, signed the tax bill into law in May 2012. The law cut individual income taxes and eliminated state income taxes entirely for pass-through entities in an attempt to attract investment and create jobs. Credit Thad Allton/Topeka Capital-Journal, via Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. — In December 2014, the University of Kansas agreed to pay David Beaty $800,000 a year, plus incentives, to be the football program’s head coach, but with an interesting structure: More than two-thirds of that pay would be channeled to an organization called DB Sports L.L.C.

DB Sports is what accountants call a pass-through entity, and it pays all of its profits directly to Mr. Beaty. As a result of a tax law that Kansas lawmakers passed in 2012, ostensibly to benefit beleaguered small businesses in the state, that contract structure allowed Mr. Beaty to avoid paying about $37,000 a year in state income taxes, nearly enough to fund a first-year teacher’s salary in the Wichita school district. Continue reading “Kansas Tried a Tax Plan Similar to Trump’s. It Failed.”

Trump’s tax plan gives Wall Street everything it wants — and that’s bad news for them

The following post by Matt O’Brien was posted on the Washington Post website October 6, 2017:

Credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

President Trump is trying to give Wall Street what it’s always wanted: tax cuts. But doing that might take away what it’s always had: the Republican Party.

That, you see, is a pretty good description of Trump’s tax plan. It would bestow almost all of its benefits on the Republican donors at the very top of the income ladder, and it would pay for some of this largesse by actually raising taxes on the Republican voters a couple of rungs below that. Indeed, by 2027, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that the top 1 percent would be receiving 79.7 percent of all the Trump tax cuts, while the 80th to 95th percentile of households would be getting negative 5 percent. Marxists might call this “heightening the contradictions” — making things worse for people so they’ll join the revolution. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) describes it as a plan whose “purpose” is to “help the middle class.” You say tomayto, I say tomahto. Continue reading “Trump’s tax plan gives Wall Street everything it wants — and that’s bad news for them”

Are red low-tax states subsidizing blue high-tax states through the tax code?

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 6, 2017:

The wealthiest Americans pay the largest proportion of taxes. Consequently, any tax cut, unless very carefully tailored, will benefit them. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“We want to get the federal government out of the business of subsidizing the states.”
–Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Oct. 1, 2017

“Is it fair that other states subsidize states that have high state taxes?”
–House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif,), interview on Fox Business Network, Sept. 29 Continue reading “Are red low-tax states subsidizing blue high-tax states through the tax code?”

Trump aides sell tax plan with Pinocchio-laden claims

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website September 29, 2017:

The wealthiest Americans pay the largest proportion of taxes. Consequently, any tax cut, unless very carefully tailored, will benefit them. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan.”
— Gary Cohn, director of the White House Economic Council, in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Sept. 28, 2017

“The numbers are about a trillion and a half to the baseline. But more importantly, it’s a trillion dollars to policy, which is the right way of looking at it. We think there will be $2 trillion of growth. So we think this tax plan will cut down the deficits by a trillion dollars.”
— Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in an interview on Fox News, Sept. 28 Continue reading “Trump aides sell tax plan with Pinocchio-laden claims”

Trump Tax Plan May Free Up Corporate Dollars, but Then What?

The following article by Patricia Cohen was posted on the New York Times website August 29, 2017:

Republicans say that a tax overhaul will free up funds for investment and stimulate the economy, a result that has proved to be elusive in the past. Credit Mike Blake/Reuters

The tax overhaul promised by President Trump and Republican congressional leaders is lugging a remarkably heavy load. The goal is not only to reduce the tax bills of corporations and small businesses, but also to stimulate investment, create jobs, increase global competitiveness and promote economic growth.

Whatever the intentions, though, pushing the world’s largest and most diversified economy in any particular direction is a colossal undertaking. In addition, there is a large and sophisticated tax avoidance industry dedicated to frustrating the most carefully worded proposals. Continue reading “Trump Tax Plan May Free Up Corporate Dollars, but Then What?”

Action on Trump’s tax cut plan could be delayed until next year

The following article by Damian Paletta and Kelsey Snell was posted on the the Washington Post website August 1, 2017:

The White House’s push to quickly pass a major package of tax cuts through Congress is facing a fall calendar full of legislative land mines, potentially delaying a key part of President Trump’s agenda into at least 2018.

The Trump administration sees tax cuts as an achievable victory after a string of failed attempts to pass other parts of the president’s legislative agenda, as well as a proposal that could unite a party fractured over Senate Republicans’ failure last week to vote through a repeal of parts of the Affordable Care Act. Continue reading “Action on Trump’s tax cut plan could be delayed until next year”

Behind the Rhetoric of Trump’s and Congressional Republicans’ Tax Plans

The following article by Seth Hanlon was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 1, 2017:

President Donald Trump walks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as they look at portraits of the previous secretaries of the Treasury, April 21, 2017, at the Treasury Department in Washington. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon

On July 27, the White House and congressional Republicans released a joint statement of principles on taxes. The statement is intended to give momentum to a push for major tax legislation this fall. To bolster this effort, outside groups funded largely by the billionaire Koch brothers are preparinga “grassroots” lobbying campaign to push for tax cuts for corporations and big business.

The statement of principles was gauzy and virtually devoid of any detail. But the plans that President Donald Trump and House Republicans have put forward provide a better indication of what kind of tax code changes they will seek to enact this fall. As Trump and congressional leaders travel the country to gather support for the undefined notion of tax reform, it is important to understand their tax plans and who they benefit. As this column notes, their rhetoric on taxes does not always map onto their substantive agenda.

Here are six things to watch for. Continue reading “Behind the Rhetoric of Trump’s and Congressional Republicans’ Tax Plans”

White House Floats Aggressive Tax Timetable in Fall

The following article by Lindsey McPherson was posted on the Roll Call website July 31, 2017:

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is helping push the GOP tax overhaul plan. Credit:  Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The White House is not wed to having congressional Republicans use the budget reconciliation process to advance a tax overhaul and is eyeing red state Democrats up for re-election as possible partners in the effort, legislative affairs director Marc Short said Monday.

“We’ve learned how difficult it is to thread the needle with 52 [Republican] senators,” Short said at an event hosted by the conservative Americans for Prosperity at the Newseum.

Short outlined an anticipated timetable for putting together a still unwritten tax bill that presumably would not be written including reconciliation instructions, given the description he offered. He said he expects text to be drafted over the August recess and the tax-writing committees to begin markups “right away” when Congress returns after Labor Day. Continue reading “White House Floats Aggressive Tax Timetable in Fall”

3 Things to Watch on Tax Reform

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website July 31, 2017:

With TrumpCare flopping like a dying fish in the bottom of a boat, the Trump administration and Congress are trying to turn the page and prepare for the next legislative challenge: taxes. It’s important to note that the Republican leadership and President Trump are occasionally conflating the terms tax reform and tax cuts. While tax reform could include a reduction in taxes for some or many Americans, true tax reform involves many, many difficult decisions. Here are three things to be aware of as Washington turns its attention to making the tax code they created “simpler and fairer.”

Continue reading “3 Things to Watch on Tax Reform”