U.S. President Donald Trump shouts to answer reporters' questions over the helicopter noise as he departs for a weekend retreat with his cabinet at Camp David, from the White House in Washington, U.S., September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:45 pm
Despite claims by the president and his Republican allies in Congress, Donald Trump and many wealthy Americans could see a massive, multi-million dollar windfall thanks to his new tax plan.
In the new framework released today, Trump and the GOP proposed eliminating taxes that target wealthy income earners – the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax. Nixing the two would be very kind to his bank account.
As The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing Trump’s 2005 tax returns, the president could save over $30 million yearly if his new proposal was enacted.
More from the report:
The administration and its congressional allies are proposing to sharply reduce taxation of business income, primarily benefiting the small share of the population that owns the vast majority of corporate equity. President Trump said on Wednesday that the cuts would increase investment and spur growth, creating broader prosperity. But experts say the upside is limited, not least because the economy is already expanding.
The plan also would benefit Mr. Trump and other affluent Americans by eliminating the estate tax, which affects just a few thousand uber-wealthy families each year, and the alternative minimum tax, a safety net designed to prevent tax avoidance.
The precise impact on Mr. Trump cannot be ascertained because the president refuses to release his tax returns, but the few snippets of returns that have become public show one thing clearly: the alternative minimum tax has been unkind to Mr. Trump. In 2005, it forced him to pay $31 million in additional taxes.
Despite the facts, Trump went to Indiana on Wednesday to explain his new proposal and lied about it, telling his supporters that he wouldn’t see any financial gain from the plan.
“I’m doing the right thing, and it’s not good for me, believe me,” Trump said. “We’re doing everything we can to reduce the tax burden on you and your family.”
But just as Trump was spewing falsehoods when he told the crowd that his plan wouldn’t help him, he was also lying by saying it would be great for middle-class workers.
According to the same New York Times report, “It would not directly benefit the bottom third of the population. As for the middle class, the benefits appear to be modest.”
Trump’s plan is largely geared at corporations and the wealthy, and everybody else would see very few benefits, if any at all. As the Times also noted, the proposal specifically avoids tax cuts and credits that would actually benefit the workers Trump claims to be fighting for.
“The president is not proposing measures like a reduction in payroll taxes, which are paid by a much larger share of workers, nor an increase in the earned-income tax credit, which would expand wage support for the working poor,” the report noted.
As Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pointed out on Wednesday, “It is a framework that gives away the store to the wealthiest, while sticking the middle class with the bill.
Donald Trump is hoping his empty rhetoric will fool enough people into thinking he’s fighting for them, but his plan is nothing but a massive handout to the wealthiest individuals and corporations – including himself.
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