Vox Media: on Tax Reform
Donald Trump:
Comparison of Warren wealth tax to Trump wealth tax
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wasn't the first major American politician to put the idea of a tax on large fortunes. Trump's plan, as articulated during a 1999 flirtation with a Reform Party presidential bid, differed from Warren's in three important respects:
- He wanted the tax to be a one-time levy that would reduce the national debt and therefore reduce interest service payments. Warren's plan would simply levy a smaller tax each year.
- He wanted a fairly hefty rate--14.5%--that would have
required a lot of rapid-fire liquidation of business assets. Warren's rate structure is much lower than that.
- He set the threshold for his tax lower. While Warren wants to tax fortunes worth more than $50 million, Trump proposed taxing wealth
starting at $10 million. This was in 1999; in inflation-adjusted dollars, that's $15 million.
By setting a high one-time tax rate, Trump created enormous avoidance incentives and never came up with a plan to deal with them.
Source: Vox.com analysis of 2019 Trump Administration
Jan 31, 2019
Donald Trump:
People want tax cuts; don't understand tax reform
We passed the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country and it was called tax cut and reform. And I said to our people, "don't use the word reform."
Because we're going to go with "the tax reform act." I said "no wonder for 45 years nothing has been passed. Because people want tax cuts.
And they don't know what reform means." Reform can mean you're going to pay more tax. And now it was called "the tax cut act and jobs," we had to add
jobs into it, because we're picking up a tremendous number of jobs. 2.7 million jobs. 2.7. So now people hear tax cuts, and it has been popular.
Source: Vox.com blog, "Trump at CPAC 2018"
Feb 23, 2018
Elizabeth Warren:
Comparison of Trump wealth tax to Warren wealth tax
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wasn't the first major American politician to put the idea of a tax on large fortunes. Trump's plan, as articulated during a 1999 flirtation with a Reform Party presidential bid, differed from Warren's in three important respects:
- He wanted the tax to be a one-time levy that would reduce the national debt and therefore reduce interest service payments. Warren's plan would simply levy a smaller tax each year.
- He wanted a fairly hefty rate--14.5%. Warren's rate
structure is much lower than that.
- He set the threshold for his tax lower. While Warren wants to tax fortunes worth more than $50 million, Trump proposed taxing wealth starting at $10 million. This was in 1999; in inflation-adjusted dollars, that's
$15 million.
Warren has a progressive rate structure: Assets worth between $50 million and $1 billion would be taxed at 2%, and assets above $1 billion taxed at 3% tax. Trump's tax is flat but starts lower.
Source: Vox.com analysis of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jan 31, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Curb inequality: 2% tax on assets over $50M; 3% over $1B
Warren wants to curb spiraling inequality and make the rich pay. Most Americans currently pay property taxes to their local government, a form of a wealth tax. The majority of middle class assets are property. Rich people of course own real estate, but
they tend to mostly own shares of stock and other financial assets that largely evade taxation.Warren's proposal is for a progressive wealth tax: a 2 percent levy on assets more than $50 million, and a 3 percent rate that only kicks in when you have
more than $1 billion.
The mere existence of the wealth tax would, on the margin, encourage wealthy individuals to dissipate their fortunes on charitable giving and lavish consumption. Wealth taxes, though once common in developed countries, have gone
out of style in recent years. While 12 OECD members had wealth taxes in 1990, just four--France, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland--do today. Warren's proposed rate would be slightly lower than Spain's but higher than the other three.
Source: Vox.com on 2020 Democratic primary contenders
Jan 24, 2019
Joe Biden:
Tax code shouldn't reward wealth more than work
[Excerpts of DNC speech]: "More mom and pop businesses will close their doors and this time for good. Working families will struggle to get by, and yet the wealthiest 1% will get tens of billions of dollars in new tax breaks,"
Biden warned. "We don't need a tax code that rewards wealth more than it rewards work," he warned later.
Source: Vox.com analysis of 2020 Democratic National Convention
Aug 21, 2020
Richard Ojeda:
Raise taxes on natural gas companies building pipelines
Ojeda hasn't been shy about wanting to raise taxes on corporations. He blasted former legislators for "giving away" the state to coal companies without getting anything in return for residents. He added that legislators needed to raise taxes on natural
gas companies putting pipelines throughout West Virginia. "There will be billions pulled from our state," he said. "If we allow that to go, and do not think of the citizens of West Virginia, then shame on all of us."
Source: Vox.com on 2020 West Virginia Senate race
May 9, 2018
Page last updated: Dec 02, 2023