Sizing Up Trump’s Tax Plan: Who Really Gets a Break?
THE ISSUE: The details of President Trump’s tax-reform proposal, which he unveiled at the end of September.
New York politicians are upset that President Trump’s tax proposal includes disallowing itemized deduction for state and local taxes (“Dems’ ‘Wealth-Fare’ Lie,” Betsy McCaughey, PostOpinon, Oct. 2).
However, that’s only half the truth. The end of the deduction is more than offset for most New Yorkers, especially lowincome taxpayers, by the doubling of the standard deduction from $12,000 to $24,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return.
These are the people New York Democrats say they represent. David Levine Hobe Sound, Fla.
Republicans say their plan is about the middle class, but according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, it’s not.
Under Trump’s tax plan the top 1 percent would get an 8.7 percent boost in after-tax income, while folks in the middle would see only a 0.5 percent boost on average.
This tells us that the Trump tax plan is nothing but a scam. It will give a massive tax cut to the wealthy and to Trump himself. Kristen Cann Croydon, Pa.
Reducing taxes can lead to an increase in government revenue. So why do we keep hearing the old liberal canard that Americans will have to pay for tax cuts? Tax cuts can pay for themselves.
When President John F. Kennedy cut investment taxes, it boosted revenue. The same thing happened when President Ronald Reagan cut taxes.
While we are talking about tax cuts: When do we stop demonizing the rich, who pay the lion’s share?
The top 10 percent pays 80 percent of income tax. From where I sit, that’s called paying their fair share. Barry Levy Hawthorne, Calif.
Trump said his proposed tax cuts would not benefit him.
I suppose abolishing the estate tax would not save the president’s family hundreds of millions of dollars, nor would the abolishment of the alternative minimum tax.
Actually, it would likely save the president tens of millions of dollars each year.
Mr. President, at least be honest with the American people. John Lemandri Williamsburg, Va