here is a synopsis of the tax plans as retrieved from the American Tax Policy Institute.
drat, it doesn't work quite right, but here is the WHOLE tax plan, as it's supposed to be! anyone who knows how to post a .doc, please let me know or i'll send it to you and you can post it. i printed it off for family yesterday. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411693_CandidateTaxPlans.pdf
Here's how the average tax bill could change in 2009 if either John McCain's or Barack Obama's tax proposals were fully in place.
MCCAIN
OBAMA
Income
Avg. tax bill
Over $2.9M
-$269,364
+$701,885
$603K and up
-$45,361
+$115,974
$227K-$603K
-$7,871
+$12
$161K-$227K
-$4,380
-$2,789
$112K-$161K
-$2,614
-$2,204
$66K-$112K
-$1,009
-$1,290
$38K-$66K
-$319
-$1,042
$19K-$38K
-$113
-$892
Under $19K
-$19
-$567
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411693
John McCain and Barack Obama have starkly different philosophies about tax policy - how to raise the revenue needed to support government programs, spur growth and ensure economic fairness.
But voters really want to know one thing: How would the presidential candidates' views trickle down to their tax bills? A report released Wednesday by a nonpartisan policy group in Washington, D.C., takes a big first step toward answering that question.
According to the Tax Policy Center's findings, the common assumptions most people make about the plans of McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and Obama, the Democrats' pick, are not wildly off-base.
McCain: The average taxpayer in every income group would see a lower tax bill, but high-income taxpayers would benefit more than everyone else.
Obama: High-income taxpayers would pay more in taxes, while everyone else's tax bill would be reduced. Those who benefit the most - in terms of reducing their taxes as a percentage of after-tax income - are in the lowest income groups.
Under both plans, all American taxpayers could pay a price for their tax cuts: a bigger deficit. The Tax Policy Center estimates that over 10 years, McCain's tax proposals could increase the national debt by as much as $4.5 trillion with interest, while Obama's could add as much as $3.3 trillion.
The reason: neither plan would raise the amount of revenue expected under current tax policy - which assumes all the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire by 2011. And neither plan would raise enough to cover expected government costs during those 10 years.
"Distributionally, they're markedly different. But in terms of their impact on revenue, the two plans are not terribly different," said Roberton Williams, principal research associate at the Tax Policy Center and the former deputy assistant director for tax analysis at the Congressional Budget Office.
A closer look
In addition to making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, McCain says he would double the exemption for dependents, lower the corporate tax rate, make expensing rules more generous for small businesses and lessen the bite of the estate tax and Alternative Minimum tax.
The net result: compared with their tax bill today, taxpayers on average would see their tax bill cut by nearly $1,200. That means their after-tax income would rise by 2%.
But those in the lowest income groups would only see their after-tax income rise by less than 1% (or between $19 and $319). By contrast, the highest-income households - those with incomes of at least $603,000 - would see a boost in after-tax income of 3.4%, or more than $40,000.
Obama's plan would keep the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in place for everyone except those making more than roughly $250,000, and he would increase the capital gains tax.
Obama would also introduce new tax breaks for lower and middle-income groups. Such breaks include expanding the earned income tax credit, giving those making less than $150,000 a $500 tax credit per person on the first $8,100 in income, giving those making under $75,000 a 50% federal match on the first $1,000 of savings, and exempting seniors making less than $50,000 from having to pay income tax.
Like McCain, Obama would lessen the bite of the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax, but to a lesser degree.
The net result: compared with their tax bill today, taxpayers on average would see their tax bill cut by nearly $160 under Obama's plan. That means their after-tax income would rise by 0.3%.
But those in the lowest-income groups would enjoy the biggest after-tax income rise as a percentage of income - between 2.4% and 5.5% (worth between $567 and $1,042). By contrast, the highest-income households - those with at least $603,000 in income - would see a dramatic decline in their after-tax income - a drop of 8.7%, or $116,000.
The campaigns respond
Jason Furman, a newly appointed senior economic adviser to Obama, said his preliminary response is that the report's findings bear out what Obama's campaign has been saying: that he's for the middle class.
"Middle-class families get tax cuts that are three times larger from Obama than from McCain," Furman said. "And the McCain plan gives nearly one-quarter of its benefits to households making more than $2.8 million annually - the top 0.1%."
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior economic adviser to McCain, noted that the report does not take into account the spending reforms - such as eliminating earmarks - that are central to McCain's strategy to support tax relief and help reduce the deficit.
One of the center's co-directors, William Gale, conceded in a conference call that "if McCain succeeds (in achieving his proposed spending cuts), the fiscal cost of his plan does go down."
But spending cuts can be politically difficult to achieve, said Len Burman, the Tax Policy Center's director.
Holtz-Eakin characterized McCain's plan as one geared toward "reshaping federal bureaucracies and protecting taxpayers' money. [His] plan is based on kicking down doors in Washington, and delivering tax dollars back to the American taxpayers who are struggling with record gas prices, soaring food costs and a down economy."
Not the final word
Williams said the Tax Policy Center analysis should be viewed as a work in progress. Researchers plan to update it as they get more information about the plans from the campaigns and if the candidates introduce new tax policies between now and Election Day.
The center will also incorporate the tax elements of McCain's and Obama's health care proposals when they update their findings.
How the candidates' tax plans would affect economic growth is an open question. "It depends on how the deficits are closed," Burman said.
Tax studies have shown that when tax cuts are deficit funded and they're paid for by raising taxes in the future, "the economy is worse off than if you didn't cut at all," Burman said.
First Published: June 11, 2008: 10:31 AM EDT
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm%3FID%3D411652&sa=X&oi=smap&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=8&usg=AFQjCNG1uh71fgw97cdMIkbs9lPyKUsx9Q McCain’s Gas-Tax plan on Empty
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/election_issues_matrix.cfm
New Tax Cuts
Barack Obama:
Refundable Making Work Pay tax credit of 6.2 percent of earnings up to a maximum of $8,100
Refundable Universal Mortgage Credit of 10 percent or mortgage interest for nonitemizers, capped at $800 ($8,000 of interest)
Eliminate income tax for senior making less than $50,000 per year
First-time buyers tax credit for new farmers
Small Business and Microenterprise Initiative tax credit of 20 percent on up to $50,000 of investment in small owner-operated businesses
John McCain:
Allow first-year deduction of 3 and 5-year equipment, deny interest deductions (expires)
Reduce maximum corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent
Increase the dependent exemption by 70 percent
Suspend the federal gas tax (18.4 cents per gallon from this Memorial Day until Labor Day
Adjustments to Existing Credits
Make R&D and renewable enery production tax credit (wind, solar) permanent
Extend childless EITC phase-in range and increase phaseout threshold, double the phase-in and phase-out rates for childless individuals paying child support, increase EITC phase-in rate to 45 percent for families with three or more children; increase add-on to EITC phase-out threshold for married filers to $5,000
Make CDCTC refundable and allow low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for child care expenses
Make saver's credit refundable and change to a 50 percent match of the first $1,000 of savings, phases out beginning before $75,000
Increase Hope credit 100% match rate to $4,000 for college education and make refundable, rename American Opportunity Tax Credit
Mandate automatic 401(k)s and automatic IRAs
Convert R&D credit to 10 percent of wages incurred for R&D, make permanent
Capital Gains
Increase maximum capital gains rate to 25 percent
Require information reporting of basis for gains
Eliminate capital gains taxation of start-up businesses and provide capital gains tax break for landowners selling to beginning family farmers
Keep the current rates on dividends and capital gains
Bush Tax Cuts
Permanently extend marriage penalty relief, adoption credit expansions, 10,15,25, and 28% rates, EITC simplification
Restore 36 and 39.6% statutory income tax rates, Restore PEP and Pease phaseouts for households making more than $250,000, increase in PEP and Pease threshold
Make permanent all provisions other than the estate tax repeal
Alternative Minimum Tax
Extend and index 2007 AMT patch
Extend and index 2007 AMT patch, further increase exemption by 5 percent in excess of inflation after 2013 (temporarily)
Estate Tax
Make permanent estate tax with $3.5 million exemption and 45 percent rate
Make permanent estate tax with $5 million exemption and 15 percent rate
Simplification
Give taxpayers the option of pre -filled tax forms to verify, sign, return to IRS
Give taxpayers the option of an alternative tax system with two rates and a larger standard deduction and personal exemption
Revenue Raisers and Tax Havens
Eliminate oil and gas loopholes
Close loopholes in the corporate tax deductibility of CEO pay
Tax carried interest as ordinary, Increase the highest bracket for capital gains and dividends
Reallocate multinational tax deductions
Codify economic substance doctrine
Create international tax haven watch list
Other unspecified revenue raising provisions
Unspecified corporate base broadeners
Eliminate earmarked projects from the budget, freeze nonmilitary discretionary spending for one year, eliminate programs
Health
Income-related federal tax subsidies for health insurance
Replace exclusion from income for employer sponsored health insurance with refundable credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families
Other
Social Security/payroll taxes: increase the maximum amount of earnings covered by Social Security
Require a 3/5 majority vote in Congress to raise taxes
Ban internet and cell phone taxes
Higher premiums for Medicare prescription drug coverage for single people earning more than $82,000 and couples earning more than $164,000
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