by | ARTICLES, BLOG, FREEDOM, GOVERNMENT, LAW, OBAMA, OBAMACARE, POLITICS, TAXES
I’m sick and tired of reading over and over again in places both liberal and conservative that Trump’s (as well as the Republican’s) proposed tax reforms are going to give the lion’s share of the cuts to the top 1%. The entire concept is totally distorted.
In fact, nobody has been talking about the series of tax changes that occurred when Obama and his Democrat cronies passed the Obamacare increases. These raised the Bush tax rates on only the wealthiest from 36% – 39.6 % and then again raised the tax rates on the wealthiest by adding a net investment income tax (NIIT), otherwise known as the “Obamacare tax,” which covered all investment income. The increase also raised capital gains tax on the wealthiest from 15% – 20%. When the 3.8% tax is added, capital gains rates effectively went from 15%- 23.8% — an increase of almost 60%. That’s ridiculous!
Those ludicrous tax increases were principally responsible — along with the hemorrhage of regulations coming out of the Obama administration — for the horrific economic performance since Obama took office. The first step of any meaningful tax reform should be to reverse those Obamacare tax increases, which went 100% to the higher income individuals, and 0% to the middle class and lower income. The reversal of those insane tax increases should in no way be considered a tax cut. It is just restoring what was in fact an egregious toxin on our entire economy.
by | ARTICLES, ECONOMY, FREEDOM, GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, TAXES, TRUMP
Over the next week or two, I’ll do a more thorough analysis of portions of Trump’s tax plan. Here it is in full, so that you don’t have to go searching for it:
DONALD J. TRUMP’S VISION
- Reduce taxes across-the-board, especially for working and middle-income Americans who will receive a massive tax reduction.
- Ensure the rich will pay their fair share, but no one will pay so much that it destroys jobs or undermines our ability to compete.
- Eliminate special interest loopholes, make our business tax rate more competitive to keep jobs in America, create new opportunities and revitalize our economy.
- Reduce the cost of childcare by allowing families to fully deduct the average cost of childcare from their taxes, including stay-at-home parents.
TAX LAW CHANGES
The Trump Plan will revise and update both the individual and corporate tax codes:
Individual Income Tax
Tax rates
The Trump Plan will collapse the current seven tax brackets to three brackets. The rates and breakpoints are as shown below. Low-income Americans will have an effective income tax rate of 0. The tax brackets are similar to those in the House GOP tax blueprint.
Brackets & Rates for Married-Joint filers:
Less than $75,000: 12%
More than $75,000 but less than $225,000: 25%
More than $225,000: 33%
*Brackets for single filers are ½ of these amounts
The Trump Plan will retain the existing capital gains rate structure (maximum rate of 20 percent) with tax brackets shown above. Carried interest will be taxed as ordinary income.
The 3.8 percent Obamacare tax on investment income will be repealed, as will the alternative minimum tax.
Deductions
The Trump Plan will increase the standard deduction for joint filers to $30,000, from $12,600, and the standard deduction for single filers will be $15,000. The personal exemptions will be eliminated as will the head-of-household filing status.
In addition, the Trump Plan will cap itemized deductions at $200,000 for Married-Joint filers or $100,000 for Single filers.
Death Tax
The Trump Plan will repeal the death tax, but capital gains held until death and valued over $10 million will be subject to tax to exempt small businesses and family farms. To prevent abuse, contributions of appreciated assets into a private charity established by the decedent or the decedent’s relatives will be disallowed.
Childcare
Americans will be able to take an above-the-line deduction for children under age 13 that will be capped at state average for age of child, and for eldercare for a dependent. The exclusion will not be available to taxpayers with total income over $500,000 Married-Joint /$250,000 Single, and because of the cap on the size of the benefit, working and middle class families will see the largest percentage reduction in their taxable income.
The childcare exclusion would be provided to families who use stay-at-home parents or grandparents as well as those who use paid caregivers, and would be limited to 4 children per taxpayer. The eldercare exclusion would be capped at $5,000 per year. The cap would increase each year at the rate of inflation.
The Trump Plan would offer spending rebates for childcare expenses to certain low-income taxpayers through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The rebate would be equal to 7.65 percent of remaining eligible childcare expenses, subject to a cap of half of the payroll taxes paid by the taxpayer (based on the lower-earning parent in a two-earner household).
This rebate would be available to married joint filers earning $62,400 ($31,200 for single taxpayers) or less. Limitations on costs eligible for exclusion and the number of beneficiaries would be the same as for the basic exclusion. The ceiling would increase with inflation each year.
All taxpayers would be able to establish Dependent Care Savings Accounts (DCSAs) for the benefit of specific individuals, including unborn children. Total annual contributions to a DCSA are limited to $2,000 per year from all sources, which include the account owner (parent in the case of a minor or the person establishing elder care account), immediate family members of the account owner, and the employer of the account owner. When established for children, the funds remaining in the account when the child reaches 18 can be used for education expenses, but additional contributions could not be made.
To encourage lower-income families to establish DCSAs for their children, the government will provide a 50 percent match on parental contributions of up to $1,000 per year for these households. When parents fill out their taxes they can check a box to directly deposit any portion of their EITC into their Dependent Care Savings Account. All deposits and earnings thereon will be free from taxation, and unused balances can rollover from year to year.
Business Tax
The Trump Plan will lower the business tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, and eliminate the corporate alternative minimum tax. This rate is available to all businesses, both small and large, that want to retain the profits within the business.
It will provide a deemed repatriation of corporate profits held offshore at a one-time tax rate of 10 percent.
It eliminates most corporate tax expenditures except for the Research and Development credit.
Firms engaged in manufacturing in the US may elect to expense capital investment and lose the deductibility of corporate interest expense. An election once made can only be revoked within the first 3 years of election; if revoked, returns for prior years would need to be amended to show revised status. After 3 years, election is irrevocable.
The annual cap for the business tax credit for on-site childcare authorized by Sec. 205 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 would be increased to $500,000 per year (up from $150,000) and recapture period would be reduced to 5 years (down from 10 years).
Businesses that pay a portion of an employee’s childcare expenses can exclude those contributions from income. Employees who are recipients of direct employer subsidies would not be able to exclude those costs from the individual income tax and the costs of direct subsidies to employees could not be used as a cost eligible for the credit.
by | BLOG, ECONOMY, NEW YORK, OBAMA, TAXES
The New York Post had an article the other day regarding the continuous stream of New Yorkers leaving the state. An analysis found that “in 2014, 126,000 tax filers moved out of New York,” more than any other state in the nation. Also significantly, “The Empire State also lost the most “high earners,” who reported making more than $200,000 a year.”
This particular phenomenon has been going on for years, as I have written about in previous articles. But it seems like some people are groups want to downplay the exodus. The executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, Ron Deutsch, was sure to point out “that those who earn at least $1 million per year are more likely to stay put.”
It was a curious observation from the The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI), which purports to be “an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and education organization committed to improving public policies and private practices to better the economic and social conditions of all New Yorkers.”
Now, let’s stop for a minute. Of course those who earn more than one million a year would be more likely to stay put. They are the ones who can afford to be abused by the government and put up with it because they don’t want to give up their luxuries — the theater, the restaurants, all that New York has to offer. They can afford to stay. That $200,000 threshold? It’s really New York’s middle class, the backbone of the city. Because of the extremely high cost of living, they can’t afford to stay and put up with abuse.
If Texas ever did to their oilmen what New York does to its taxpayers, they’d be run out on a rail.
by | BLOG, ECONOMY, FREEDOM, GOVERNMENT, OBAMA, TAXES
I always like to periodically check in on what’s going on in the world of federal debt and federal tax collections. The good folks over at CNS News consistently report the figures that come out of the U.S. Treasury so we can periodically see how our federal finances are doing. Here’s the latest snapshot:
During the 90 full months President Barack Obama has completed serving in the White House—February 2009 through July 2016–the U.S. Treasury collected approximately $19,966,110,000,000 in tax revenues (in non-inflation-adjusted dollars), according to the Monthly Treasury Statements.
During those same 90 months, the federal debt rose from $10,632,005,246,736.97 to $19,427,694,579,786.64—an increase of $8,795,689,333,049.67.
In July, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today, the federal government took in $209,998,000,000 in taxes and spent $322,813,000,000—running a one-month deficit of $112,815,000,000.
So far in fiscal 2016, according the Treasury statement, the federal government has collected approximately $2,678,824,000,000 in taxes and spent approximately $3,192,487,000,000—running a deficit of $513,662,000,000 for the first ten months of the fiscal year.
Given that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that there were 151,517,000 people employed in the United States in July, the $19,966,110,000,000 in taxes the Treasury has collected during Obama’s first 90 full months in office equals approximately $131,775 per worker.
The $8,795,689,333,049.67 in additional debt the federal government incurred during Obama’s first 90 full months in office equals approximately $58,051 per worker.
The Treasury only needs to pull in another $33.89 billion in taxes to reach the $20 trillion mark for Obama’s presidency. (The $19,966,110,000,000 the Treasury pulled in during the first 90 full months of Obama’s presidency equals approximately $221,845,666,666.67 per month).
During the first 90 full months George W. Bush was president (February 2001 through July 2008), according to the Monthly Treasury Statements, the Treasury collected approximately $16,048,182,000,000 in taxes.
(From February 2001 through January 2009, the Treasury collected $17,251,191,000,000 in taxes. Bush was inaugurated on Jan, 20, 2001 and left office on Jan. 20, 2009, when Obama was sworn in.)
The $16,048,182,000,000 in taxes the Treasury collected during Bush’s first 90 full months in office equaled approximately $110,273 for each of the 145,532,000 persons who had a job as of July 2008.
During the first 90 full months of George W. Bush’s presidency, the debt rose from $5,716,070,587,057.36 to $9,585,479,639,200.33—an increase of $3,869,409,052,142.97. That equaled approximately $26,588 in added debt for each of the 145,532,000 persons who had a job as July 2008.
Here, according to the numbers published in the Monthly Treasury Statements, are the total receipts the Treasury has brought during the 90 full months President Barack Obama has completed in office:
Feb. 2009-Sept. 2009: $1,330,887,000,000
Fiscal 2010: $2,161,728,000,000
Fiscal 2011: $2,302,495,000,000
Fiscal 2012: $2,449,093,000,000
Fiscal 2013: $2,774,011,000,000
Fiscal 2014: $3,020,371,000,000
Fiscal 2015: $3,248,701,000,000
Oct. 2015 – July 2016: $2,678,824,000,000
90 Month Total: $19,966,110,000,000
