President Trump repeatedly dodged the opportunity to talk about his plan to cut middle-class taxes in a televised interview Thursday.
After Trump claimed that Joe Biden would increase taxes on the middle class if he won the Oval Office, Fox Business host Stuart Varney asked Trump five times what tax cuts he would advance if granted a second term in office by the voters. Of the five queries, three specifically mentioned cutting middle-class taxes.
The president finally said that he wants to cut middle-class taxes, but he seemed to reference the 21% corporate tax bracket when talking specifically about a rate cut.
“We’re talking about income taxes for the middle-income people. May bring down the 21% down to 20, even number,” he said.
The middle class pays taxes according to rates for individuals, not corporations, and there is no 21% individual tax rate for 2020.
Details about Trump’s tax proposals for a second term have been sparse.
The second term agenda released in August included cutting taxes to keep companies from moving jobs offshore and expanding Opportunity Zones, which provide tax advantages for real estate investments in disadvantaged areas. It also asserted to “cut taxes to boost take-home pay” but provided no particulars.
Analysis on the agenda was deemed “light on detail,” according to the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy think tank.
Meanwhile, a report released Thursday found that Biden’s proposals would largely hold middle-class taxpayers harmless.
The analysis, from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, estimated that the former vice president’s plan would increase taxes on individuals earning $400,000 or more. Middle-class income is much lower than that figure, as median income was roughly $68,000 in 2019, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Wealthier individuals and corporations would bear the brunt of tax increases proposed by Biden. The plan would increase taxes by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years, according to Thursday’s report.
Wealthy individuals would pay roughly 40% of that tax increase, while businesses, especially corporations, would pony up the remaining 60%, the report states.
