Sunday, September 23, 2012

Taxes: Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney


I would like to discuss Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s position on Taxes. In relation to taxes, Barack Obama wants the George W Bush tax cuts to expire for households earning more than 250,000. He supports the Buffet Rule which states those earning over $1 million are to be taxed an effective rate of at least 30%. He also wants to crack down on tax breaks for hedge fund managers, oil companies and high earners.

On the other hand, Mitt Romney has proposed sweeping tax reforms. He wants to reduce all personal income taxes by 20%. He wants to slash taxes on capital gains, dividends and interest for those earning less than $200,000 and cut corporation tax from 35% to 25%. He also wants to scrap estate tax entirely.  So how would he pay for all these tax cuts that are estimated to cost between $350 billion to $500 billion a year. He says that he would pay for all these tax cuts by eliminating “loopholes.” In principles this is a great idea. The tax code complexity distorts market and rewards some in expense of others. The trouble is Mitt Romney hasn’t specified which exemptions he would limit and how much. The biggest tax exemptions: mortgage interest relief, tax exempt status of charitable donations, and employer provided health insurance are all widely popular. Removing them would hit the America’s middle class very hard.

Even though, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have their opposing views on taxes, I believe, they both need to reveal more details about their plans.






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