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Bloomberg On Trump’s Tax Plan: You Can’t Even Call This A Good Start
By Bloomberg's Editorial Board
With the release of their new "framework" for tax reform, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have once again succeeded in avoiding an actual plan. At best, it's the start of a process that might conceivably lead somewhere.
The framework has some commendable principles -- calling for simpler, lower taxes for businesses and the middle class; a broader tax base with fewer "special interest tax breaks and loopholes"; and measures to deal with the s
Aside from the fact that the plan mostly offers tax breaks to rich and will blow a massive hole in the budget, it will actually lead to slight tax increases for many lower- and middle-class itemizers (mostly homeowners). The standard deduction is increasing, but itemizers are losing personal exemptions AND the benefits of itemizing (for the most part, since few middle class families see more than 24k in itemized deductions). Goodbye tax break for home ownership. Source: I do taxes for a living and did a whole bunch of math yesterday.