How Donald Trump’s tax proposals would affect Americans’ incomes
Donald Trump’s tax proposals could benefit higher-income taxpayers. Find out what his campaign proposals are.
With two months to go until the general election, the country’s presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, have already presented their respective campaign promises, including various tax proposals, whose main objective is to alleviate the financial burden on taxpayers.
Despite having the same objective, each candidate’s vision is different, which implies different effects on voters’ household finances, depending on the sector of the population to which they belong. For example, Kamala Harris’s tax proposals are intended to help lower-income taxpayers, while Donald Trump’s have a completely opposite objective.
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How Donald Trump's tax proposals would affect Americans' incomes
Former President Trump’s main tax proposal is to extend the tax cuts enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. As the name suggests, the measure is intended to reduce taxes for most taxpayers. However, various studies have shown that higher-income taxpayers benefited by far the most from the measure.
In addition to tax cuts, Trump’s tax plan also includes eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security. However, this second measure could backfire for Social Security recipients, since most of the program is funded by taxes. If the Administration runs out of funds, its insolvency would be accelerated, causing economic hardship for Social Security recipients.
“It’s true that Trump looks like he’s winner for everybody, but he’ll provide much bigger giveaways to the top 1% and top 0.1%, whereas Harris will be negative for these people,” Kent Smetters, faculty director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model, told CBS News.
According to CBS News analysts, Trump’s tax proposal could add $5.8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, more than double Harris’s projected $2 trillion proposal. The Congressional Budget Office is currently projecting a $1.9 trillion budget deficit by 2024, so both candidates’ tax proposals have already raised alarm bells.