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发帖数: 42 | 1 http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-drops-plan-to-raise-taxes-on-
Obama Drops Plan to Raise Taxes on ‘529’ College Savings Accounts
President’s Plan Sparked Criticism Over Potential Impact on Middle Class
House Speaker Republican John Boehner called Tuesday for the White House to
withdraw its plan to raise taxes on 529 college-savings accounts. Later the
same day, the administration said it was dropping its plan. ENLARGE
House Speaker Republican John Boehner called Tuesday for the White House to
withdraw its plan to raise taxes on 529 college-savings accounts. Later the
same day, the administration said it was dropping its plan. PHOTO: EUROPEAN
PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
By JOHN D. MCKINNON
Updated Jan. 27, 2015 6:20 p.m. ET
159 COMMENTS
The Obama administration said it would drop a plan to tax so-called 529
college savings accounts, after the proposal sparked widespread criticism
over its potential impact on the middle class.
The move followed a public call by House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) on
Tuesday for the White House to withdraw its plan. Calls also were coming
privately from leaders of the president’s own party. House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) pressed the case for dropping the plan in
conversations with senior administration officials aboard Air Force One, as
she flew with the president from India to Saudi Arabia, according to a
person familiar with the matter.
A White House official said late Tuesday: “Given it has become such a
distraction, we’re not going to ask Congress to pass the 529 provision.”
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Ahead of last week’s State of the Union address, Mr. Obama proposed a set
of tax changes aimed at boosting incomes for low- and middle-income
households, including expanded availability of a break known as the American
Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides as much as $2,500 per student for
higher-education expenses. To offset the cost of those plans, the White
House plan would have narrowed or ended several other breaks, including tax-
free distributions from 529 accounts, which disproportionately benefit
higher-income households, according to administration officials.
The administration said it will continue to push for expanded tax credits
for higher-education costs, as well as other breaks for lower- and middle-
income households.
The move is a setback for the president. He sought in the run-up to last
week’s State of the Union address to reframe a long-running debate over the
tax system by issuing a set of proposals to address middle-class anxiety
over wage and income stagnation.
President Obama is proposing tax hikes on the wealthy to pay for new tax
breaks for low and middle-income households. Photo:AP
To pay for his ideas, he proposed several changes to restrict use of tax-
advantaged savings accounts. The administration argued that the accounts—
such as the 529 accounts—disproportionately benefit higher-income families.
But the blowback over his call to scale back the tax advantages of 529 plans
showed the political difficulty of making such changes.
A White House official said the 529 proposal was “a very small component of
the president’s overall plan to deliver $50 billion in education tax cuts
for middle-class families. We proposed it because we thought it was a
sensible approach, part of consolidating six programs to two and expanding
and better targeting education tax relief for the middle class.”
Mr. Boehner earlier Tuesday said the plans as now constituted benefit the
middle class, calling the president’s original proposal “another example
of his outdated, top-down approach, when our focus ought to be on providing
opportunity for all Americans.”
A GOP aide said Tuesday that the House would vote next month on an
alternative approach—sponsored both by Republican and Democratic lawmakers
—that would expand 529 account benefits while preserving their current tax
treatment. The move set up a test of Democratic support for Mr. Obama’s
plan.
Administration officials have said middle-class households would benefit
overall from the changes to education tax breaks, which would require
congressional approval. The administration’s proposal for 529 savings plans
would have ended tax-free distributions from 529 accounts by imposing a tax
on earnings from new contributions.
The accounts would have remained available, and account holders could still
have avoided the tax on gains until the money was distributed. But experts
said the proposal, if enacted, would have discouraged their use.
Write to John D. McKinnon at [email protected]
/* */
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There are 159 comments.
Newest
OldestReader Recommendedwilliam slonekerwilliam sloneker 5 minutes ago
sad... no effort to reduce spending. no effort to put people to work. only
effort to tour India and make superfluous speeches. Obama is such a
worthless fool.
jerome ogdenjerome ogden 44 minutes ago
“The administration said it will continue to push for expanded tax credits
(and) other breaks for lower- and middle-income households.” Translation:
Washington’s binge spending will not be affected in the least now that
Obama has agreed to end his tax grab on 529 plans, even though those
revenues were supposed to offset a lot of the new educational freebies for
the poor.
Congress’ budget making is all Kabuki theater. It’s spend, spend, spend
as fast as you can pump that fiat money out of the Fed’s spigot, the
grandchildren be damned.
MICHAEL H SERAFINMICHAEL H SERAFIN 54 minutes ago
529's...my wife and I created one for each of our 2 children 20+ years or so
ago. We are using them now, paying for community college for both, one is
in HVAC training but can get an associates in it. The other is in business.
Each class costs roughly $625/class. We can pay for the entire 2 years
using our 529. They and we will have no debt coming out of school. It
worked very well for us.
Just average folk using what we can to get our kids educated.
greg mcelvygreg mcelvy 25 minutes ago
@MICHAEL H SERAFIN Not sure that this crowd gets sarcasm. |
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