Romney would hike taxes on poor 60%
Analysis of plan says the rich would see taxes cut 15% and the middle class would see taxes fall 2.2%. The plan would increase the deficit, something the GOP candidate disputes.
This post is by Stephen Ohlemacher of The Associated Press.
Republican Mitt Romney's tax plan would increase taxes on low-income families while cutting taxes for the middle-class and the rich, according to an independent study released Thursday.
On average, households making less than $20,000 would see their taxes increase by more than 60%, said the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research group that studied the Romney plan.
Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 would get small tax cuts, averaging 2.2%, or about $250, the study said. People making more than $1 million would get tax cuts averaging 15%, or about $146,000.
"Virtually everybody with a big income is getting a tax cut," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
Overall, Romney's plan would reduce tax revenues by $180 billion in 2015, adding to the federal budget deficit, the study said. Romney's campaign disputes the estimate, saying tax cuts in the plan would help improve the economy, leading to more revenue. (Post continues below video.)
Fresh off a slim victory in the Iowa caucuses, Romney is the front-runner for the GOP nomination for president. His tax plan is less sweeping than those proposed by some of his rivals. He says he will push for "a fundamental redesign of our system." But initially, his plan maintains the current tax rates while cutting corporate taxes and reducing taxes on investments.
Romney's plan would cut the top corporate tax rate form 35% to 25%, eliminate investment taxes for the middle class and make permanent a massive package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush.
Romney would also repeal tax increases on the wealthy that were enacted as part of President Barack Obama's health care package. His plan, however, would allow some tax cuts enacted under Obama to expire.
The Obama tax cuts, first enacted as part of the massive economic stimulus package passed in 2009, targeted low-income families with children, including many people who don't make enough money to pay any federal income taxes. They included an expanded tax credit for college students, a more generous Earned Income Tax Credit for families with three or more children, and a more generous child tax credit for low-income families.
Like the Bush tax cuts, the Obama tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Romney's campaign says letting the Obama tax cuts expire doesn't amount to a tax increase.
"Mitt Romney has not proposed raising taxes. In fact, he laid out a blueprint for governing that includes dramatic spending cuts to reduce the deficit and pro-growth tax policies that permanently extend the Bush tax cuts, dramatically cut the corporate tax rate to create jobs, and deliver real tax relief to middle-income taxpayers," campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.
Other GOP candidates have called for more sweeping tax plans. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have both called for versions of the flat tax, in which all income is taxed at the same rate. Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has called for reducing the number of tax brackets from six to two.
Previous studies by the Tax Policy Center have found that plans by Gingrich and Perry would result in big tax cuts for the wealthy, reducing tax revenue by billions each year. The center has not yet done a comprehensive analysis of Santorum's plan, though Williams said one is planned.
The Tax Policy Center is a research group formed by two Washington think tanks, the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Its researchers regularly testify before Congress on tax policy and its analyses during the 2008 presidential campaign were widely circulated.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
More from MSN Money:
Like the Bush tax cuts, the Obama tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Romney's campaign says letting the Obama tax cuts expire doesn't amount to a tax increase.
So let me get this straight, letting Obama tax cuts expire is not a tax increase, but letting the Bush tax cuts expire would have been? This is the double sided BS I get tired of hearing from Capitol Hill. Can we please vote some REAL people into office? If a candidate has the money to run commercials, that candidate is already bought and paid for.
this is poor journalism, Headline Romney to raise taxes 60% on the Poor"
Are you kidding me, if you make 20K a year, you pay no Federal Income tax, so 60% of nothing is still nothing. Obviously written by someone that is biased. How about stopping the sensational headlines that are totally misleading.
The poor pay no taxes huh. To hell with income tax. A tax is a tax. I'm poor. I would like to know just how much I send to the greedy bastar*s in Washington that do absulutely no more than steal what they can to get richer and waste the rest on their pork trying to buy votes. The last time I checked, not only the federal government but state governments receive a large tax from every gallon of gas I purchase having to drive to work. Every single item that I puchase at the grocery store has a tax that is sent to the federal government. Every single item that I purchase anywhere in this country has a tax on it that is sent to the federal government. Every utility bill, I could go on and on. If you want to know the truth if these SOB's would quit stealing and wasting money there would not even be a need for an income tax in this country. I despise the greedy scoundrels.
Do the math. Turbo Tax -married couple 1 child, $40,000 income, taking only deductions for EIC, Making work credit and, Child Tax Credit. You Federal Tax liability is -$69.00. This means you have 0 federal tax liability and you are going to get $69.00 back.
Don't confuse Social Security & medicare with federal tax. This remains the same regardless of income (SS 6.2%, exception 2011 SS 4.2% & Medicare is 1.45%) Your employer matches these payments to the gov. My point is how do you give more tax breaks to a income bracket that requires no federal income tax liability. I agree that low income should not pay federal income tax, but the fed should not be paying low income families beyond zero tax.
America is in huge trouble. We seriously are. Far too many people will quote "facts" off the internet as truth. Yup, I read it on a cousins uncles website, so it has to be true.... Get a grip and get real people. FACT. I made 19,699 last year. FACT: My federal tax withheld was 785.00 My SS withheld was 1212.00. My Medicare withheld was 284.00. My local taxes withheld was 402.00. Of that money I got a "refund" of 69.00 and had to pay the state 12.00. So that means even ignoring all the other deductions I still ended up paying 716.00 federal income tax for the year. People making under 20k pay nothing in taxes huh? ****.
I would like to add though, please, let them raise the taxes cause if they tax me more, just a little bit more, then my student loan payments of 4k a year wont have to get paid because I would fall to far down on the pay scale and I wouldnt have to give a **** about them. Please. Please raise those taxes.
Shame on MSN Money for allowing it's contributors to distort the facts and then try to hide behind another source.
RELATED ARTICLES
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
