He can afford it
Donald Trump’s tax plan would cost a staggering $12 trillion over 10 years — despite his pledge not to increase the deficit, according to an analysis released Tuesday.
The Tax Foundation found that Trump’s changes to the individual tax code would reduce net revenues by about $10.14 trillion, after accounting for higher incomes due to an 11 percent jump in the gross domestic product.
The billionaire businessman’s corporate tax cuts also would bleed $1.54 trillion over the next decade, and his plan to dispense with the estate tax would cost $238 billion, the group said.
After Trump on Monday revealed the plan, tax experts said the very top earners would be most likely to gain — even though he said, “It’s going to cost me a fortune.”
The conservative Tax Foundation estimated that the top 1 percent would see their aftertax incomes increase between 21.6 percent and 27 percent.
The bottom 30 percent would gain between 0.6 percent and 11.5 percent in aftertax income.
Under Trump’s proposal, individuals earning $25,000 or less and couples making $50,000 and under wouldn’t pay any tax at all.
The GOP frontrunner’s rep hit the foundation’s findings.
“They seem to largely ignore most of the plan’s payfors. But even accounting for that, their figures seem wildly off the mark, especially compared to how they scored similar provisions for Jeb Bush’s plan,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said.
Plans from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would cost the government from $3 trillion to $4 trillionplus when similarly scored, the foundation found.
Bush and Trump, whose plans both include huge tax cuts, say they would remove an incentive known as “carried interest,” which allows hedgefund execs to pay a lower tax rate than wageearners.
Trump’s plan also would cut the top individual rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent, the top rate for business to 15 percent, and eliminate the estate tax.
Meanwhile, Trump, wife Melania and son Barron, 9, sat down with People magazine to talk about the campaign — and the possibility they’d be moving into the White House.
If elected, he said he might “touch it up a little bit,” but added, “The White House is a special place. You don’t want to do too much touching.”
Asked if she’s given any thought to being first lady, Melania responded, “It’s a long road. I take it day by day. My husband has a lot of people cheering for him. We will see.”