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发帖数: 88 | 1 President Donald Trump could cut his tax bills by more than $1.1 billion,
including saving tens of millions of dollars in a single year, under his
proposed tax changes, a New York Times analysis has found.
On Wednesday, the White House announced a sweeping plan to cut a variety of
taxes that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. The estimate of Trump’
s savings is based in part on information from his 2005 federal tax return.
The analysis compares what his tax burden would be under current law with
what it would be under the proposal.
Trump’s 2005 return is the most recent available publicly and was released
in March by David Cay Johnston, a former New York Times reporter. The Times
’ figure also relies on an estimate of Trump’s net worth, calculated by
the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index to be $2.86 billion.
“I don’t benefit. I don’t benefit,” Trump said Wednesday. “In fact,
very, very strongly, as you see, I think there’s very little benefit for
people of wealth.”
In fact, high-income earners like Trump are likely to benefit
disproportionately if the White House proposal becomes law. The estimates,
calculated with the help of Robert Willens, an accounting expert, and
Stephen Breitstone, a tax lawyer, provide a view into precisely how.
Savings of about $1.1 billion from repealing the estate tax
Though it would not be reflected on his income tax return, Trump’s proposal
to eliminate the estate tax would generate the largest tax savings. If his
assets — reportedly valued at $2.86 billion — were transferred after his
death under today’s rules, his estate would be taxed at about 40 percent.
Repealing the federal estate tax could save his family about $1.1 billion,
though it could still be subject to New York estate taxes.
Savings of $31 million from repealing the alternative minimum tax
The decades-old alternative minimum tax is meant to prevent America’s
wealthiest from using deductions to pay very low or no federal income tax.
In 2005, it accounted for about 80 percent of Trump’s overall income tax
payment. His plan to repeal the tax would save him $31.3 million.
Savings of about $16 million from taxing certain types of business income at
25 percent
Trump’s proposed changes could allow individuals to qualify for a
significantly reduced tax rate of 25 percent on certain types of income they
receive through business partnerships and similar entities. That is up from
the original proposal in April of 15 percent, but far lower than the top
tax rates currently faced by high-income earners of 39.6 percent.
Trump could save as much as $6.2 million on business income and $9.8 million
on income from real estate and other kinds of partnerships under this plan,
compared with his tax burden under current law. (In 2005, much of this
taxable income was offset by a $103.2 million write-down in business losses.)
The proposal released Wednesday “contemplates” that Congress will adopt
measures to prevent the wealthy from recharacterizing their income to take
advantage of the new, lower rate and avoid the top personal rate. If that
happens, it could have a big effect on Trump’s tax bill.
Savings of about $500,000 from cutting the highest tax rate
The proposal to reduce the highest tax rate to 35 percent from 39.6 percent
would save high-income earners similar to Trump a relatively small amount
compared with the repeal of the alternative minimum tax. The $500,000 in
savings is a rough estimate because Trump has not specified income levels
for his proposed tax brackets.
Increase of $3 million to $5 million in taxes from repealing most deductions
Trump would probably lose most of the deductions he reported in 2005.
Depending on his effective tax rate under the proposal, Trump could pay
roughly $3 million to $5 million more in taxes.
As a resident of New York City, the largest portion of Trump’s deductions
probably came from his local and state income taxes. Under his proposal,
mortgage interest and charitable giving would still be deductible. |
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