Donald Trump’s tax plan will set him even further apart from the rest of his Republican opponents.
The plan, which Trump is set to release on Monday morning, will increase taxes on the nation’s wealthiest citizens. That would be the first time in recent memory that a major Republican candidate called for a significant tax increase on any segment of the population. He also said he would increase tax penalties for companies that tried to move overseas.
But the presidential hopeful also promised that for most Americans and U.S. based businesses his tax plan would amount to a “major” reduction. Trump talked about his plan on Sunday night on 60 Minutes but he gave out few details. After being pressed, he said a large portion of the population would have “a zero rate” under his tax plan.
It’s not clear what rate Trump was talking about. A significant portion of the American population, around 40%, under the current system, already do not make enough enough income to pay taxes. And many qualify for tax credits, effectively giving them a negative income tax rate. It is unclear how the Trump tax plan would deal with those credits. But even so, nearly all Americans pay sales and other taxes. It would be hard to see how Trump would eliminate those.
Trump said his plan would deliver at least as much funds for the government as the current plan, and perhaps more.
Trump is set to release his tax plan in a statement at 11 a.m. EST on Monday. A statement sent out by the Trump campaign said that a “major beneficiary” of the plan would be corporations and “job producers.” The release hinted that Trump would allow corporations to bring money they have made overseas to the U.S. tax-free.
The announcement also said that Trump “understands business incentives and taxes better than perhaps anyone that has ever run for office.” The statement did not say whether the candidate was being braggadocious.
