Democratic Presidential primaries continue to heat up as Bernie closes down the gap after winning Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. However, Hillary has maintained her lead in the race from the get- go, and not many doubt she is the favorite to win the nomination. Bernie has even come out to express the terms of his endorsement, which somewhat resembled blackmailing, perhaps because he expects to lose the race.
If Hillary were to win the Democrats nomination, in a number of political simulations, Hillary is projected to beat Trump, the Republican Presidential primaries frontrunner. After our nation’s first black president, we may soon welcome an America’s first woman president by next year. So what do we do? We take a look at her tax reform plan to prepare ourselves.
Among the five president hopefuls, Hillary has the most moderate reform plan. Cruz and Trump plan to give everyone a tax break- richest Americans being the biggest benefactors. Bernie intends to collect more from everyone, especially from the richest Americans. Hillary’s tax proposal is frankly not that different than the current tax structure. Still, let’s take a look at the summary.
Individual
- 43.4% top rate after 4% surtax on income over $5million
- New $1,200 credit for caregiver expenses
- Limits value of itemized deduction to 28%
- Limits the amount that can accrue in a retirement account
- 24% top rate on dividends after 4% surtax applies only to assets held in six years
- Estate and gift tax at 45%
Corporate
- Repeal gas and oil incentives
- Creates exit tax on offshore earnings
- Cracks down on earnings shipping
- Imposes “risk fee” on institutions with $50 billion in asset
Hillary Clinton appeals to the wider audience in comparison to Bernie, and that is why Hillary intends to complete a number of projects to satisfy all her voting groups’ wants. From infrastructure projects to drug addiction treatment studies, Clinton proposed new and expanded government programs. To fund those projects, Hillary’s tax reform plan increases taxes on individual and business income which is projected to raise tax revenue by $498 billion over the next decade. However, as the government collects more taxes on capital and labor, the GDP is expected to fall by 1 percent- which is equivalent of .8 percent lower wages and 311,000 fewer full-time jobs.
Written by Gabriel Choi on 04/01/2016
