From NYT:
“The president is said to want to create a new top income bracket for people making more than $2.5 million per year and to tax income above that level at a rate of 39.6 percent.”
It continues,
“President Trump has asked House Speaker Mike Johnson to include a tax hike on rich Americans in the sprawling fiscal package lawmakers are putting together, according to two people familiar with the request, reviving an idea that many Republicans have opposed.
Mr. Trump wants to create a new top income bracket for people making more than $2.5 million per year, the people said, and to tax income above that level at a rate of 39.6 percent. The president brought up the idea to Mr. Johnson in a call on Wednesday, one of the people said.
Such a change would roll back one of the tax cuts that Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017 as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That measure reduced the rate on income earned in the top bracket to 37 percent from 39.6 percent. This year, the top income bracket starts at $626,350 for an individual. Mr. Trump is effectively seeking to restore the previous top rate, but at a much higher income level.
Mr. Trump has been flirting with some kind of tax hike on the rich for weeks, alarming Republicans who as a general matter like to cut taxes. Conservatives have aggressively lobbied against the idea, and last month, Mr. Trump proclaimed that a so-called millionaires tax would be “very disruptive.”
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Seems like a good idea, no?
Comments
The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.
From NYT:
“The president is said to want to create a new top income bracket for people making more than $2.5 million per year and to tax income above that level at a rate of 39.6 percent.”
It continues,
“President Trump has asked House Speaker Mike Johnson to include a tax hike on rich Americans in the sprawling fiscal package lawmakers are putting together, according to two people familiar with the request, reviving an idea that many Republicans have opposed.
Mr. Trump wants to create a new top income bracket for people making more than $2.5 million per year, the people said, and to tax income above that level at a rate of 39.6 percent. The president brought up the idea to Mr. Johnson in a call on Wednesday, one of the people said.
Such a change would roll back one of the tax cuts that Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017 as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That measure reduced the rate on income earned in the top bracket to 37 percent from 39.6 percent. This year, the top income bracket starts at $626,350 for an individual. Mr. Trump is effectively seeking to restore the previous top rate, but at a much higher income level.
Mr. Trump has been flirting with some kind of tax hike on the rich for weeks, alarming Republicans who as a general matter like to cut taxes. Conservatives have aggressively lobbied against the idea, and last month, Mr. Trump proclaimed that a so-called millionaires tax would be “very disruptive.”
——
Seems like a good idea, no?
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Show us when it happens.
Because we’ve seen the proposals and the house, senate, and Trump all proposed a 2 trillion increased deficit due to 2 trillion more in tax cuts than the spending changes.
Do wealth tax next
OK, so he scootched a bit in the right direction. Wake me when he does something worth mentioning.
Sure, raising taxes on the well-heeled is a good idea.
When he really wants something, he’s VERY vocal.
As such it seems that he took the loaf during the last term and proposes to us back crumbs this term.
“Trump was overheard suggesting this in a brainstorming session over the phone”. Maybe worth reporting on, but not worth thinking on.
As to the policy, it’s a very small step in the right direction. This is taxing the wealthy less than in the 2016 tax code would.
From 37% to 39.6%? Complete joke.
It’s a great idea.
Shame that’ll never happen with Republicans in control.
This is a good idea. The problem is that it’s going to be used to pay for like nuking infant children or some unfathomably evil shit. Instead of like… making people’s lives better. It’s a great political move as he can then say Democrats voting against raising taxes on the rich. Fucking bullshit.
I love the idea, and not just because its a tax on the rich. The current maximum tax bracket of $626k is obviously a lot, but extremely far from the outrageously rich. For example, if you made $626k per year and saved all of it for 300 thousand years (60 times longer than recorded history) , you would still be poorer than Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg. Even Bernie Sanders has talked less about “millionaires and billionaires” to focus on billionaires. Owning a 2 bedroom condo in a major city these days can make someone a millionaire. Too often these days the somewhat well-off are defenders of the ultra-rich because we group them together.
We clearly need a new tax bracket far beyond the upper 6 figures.
pretty funny. I love seeing the specific rupture lines between right wing populism and conservatives. it’s causing a republican pundit freakout on CNN.
Sure, it’s a good step in the right direction.
But the reality of our situation, is that we need everyone to be paying higher taxes. This measly increase is not going to cover our over 6% of GDP deficit. Every other developed country already acknowledges the fact that you need to have high taxes on everyone in order to properly fund the quality and quantity of infrastructure and services people demand.
So, hooray for taking a tiny step. I’ll start really celebrating when taxes actually go up on everyone enough to ensure a sustainable budget + to fund all of the stuff people want beyond that.
I don’t think a ~2% tax rate bump for people with an income of $2.5m/year is particularly significant, especially in an environment where the IRS is being cut to the bone. Individuals with an income of more than 2.5m per year almost certainly aren’t generating that income from wages – it’s most likely coming from exactly the kind of complex accounting that we would need a functioning IRS to pursue.
If he put some hair on those numbers, say . . . 55%-60% and actually got it done well then okay.
Sure raising taxes on rich people seems like a great idea, which is why democrats are always truing to do it.
There is zero chance the Republican party, who has been dedicated to nothing so fervently as cutting taxes on the wealthy is going to do so. Literally the only thing I felt comfortable predicting when Trump won was that Republicans are going to pass a huge tax cut that mostly favors the rich.
Even if he did, at that level of income I’m not this is would have any meaningful effect, especially as they’re gutting the IRS at the same time.