Reuters, How Romney Would Tax Us, by David Cay Johnston:
The Republican frontrunner’s 160-page plan for jobs and economic growth, which he released in September, contains some sound ideas. He would encourage more Americans to save and invest. And one of his proposals would strengthen America’s status as a technological powerhouse. But there’s a side to the plan that would raise taxes on the poorest 125 million Americans while tilting tax cuts further toward the rich.
President George W. Bush cut taxes for almost everyone who paid income taxes. Romney would make the Bush tax cuts permanent. But that’s only a first step.
He would also raise taxes on poor families with children at home and those going to college. Romney does this by reducing benefits from the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit and by ending the American Opportunity tax credit for college education.
Without these tax breaks, the poorest fifth of taxpayers would pay $157 more in taxes in 2015 than under current policy, the& Tax Policy Center says in its analysis of Romney’s plan. The second poorest group would pay $82 more, according to the center, whose past work has been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike.
While Romney would make these two groups — the poorest 125 million Americans — pay higher taxes, the top 60% percent all would get tax cuts. The top tenth of one percent would save, on average, $464,000 a year. … His plan gives one third of his tax cuts to the top tenth of 1% of taxpayers. By comparison, Bush gave this group only one eighth of his cuts. Romney would also eliminate estate and gift taxes, a policy that I believe would damage the spirit of striving that has served us so well until now, replacing it with a new era of dynastic wealth. …
As a taxpayer, Romney would do much better under rival Newt Gingrich’s tax plan. Gingrich would let everyone collect capital gains, dividends and interest tax-free. Had that been the law in 2010, Romney’s tax bill would have been cut by at least 97%, my calculations show.
