begin quote from:
Donald Trump Says Wealthy May See Tax Increase
| Wall Street Journal | - |
Donald
Trump said his ambitious package of across-the-board tax reductions is
meant to serve as a starting point for negotiations with Congress, and
that he could see taxes actually rise for upper-income households if
needed to win cuts for the middle ...
Journal
- 212
Donald Trump Says Wealthy May See Tax Increase
Republican says negotiations with Congress to cut middle-class rates could raise rates for wealthy
ENLARGE
Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump said tax rates for upper-income
families could rise under his plan after negotiations with Congress.
Photo:
Steve Helber/Associated Press
“I’ll tell you what the real concept is,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in an ABC interview that aired Sunday. “Lower taxes for business, lower taxes for the middle class, lower taxes for everybody and then we’re going to start negotiating.” On tax rates for the wealthy, Mr. Trump said, “In my plan they’re going down, but by the time it’s negotiated, they’ll go up,” due to pressure from Democratic lawmakers.
Asked about the impact on high-income individuals such as himself, he said: “I have a feeling we may pay some more…. We’ve got to do something. I mean I wouldn’t mind paying more.”
In a separate interview on NBC that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump said his tax proposal was essentially a starting point for negotiations, and he didn’t expect Congress to pass it as is. “I have no illusions. I don’t think that’s going to be the final plan,” he said.
How far Mr. Trump was willing to negotiate on his tax plan remained murky. He told NBC that “the middle class has to be protected. The rich is probably going to end up paying more. And business might have to pay a little bit more. But we’re giving a massive business tax cut.”
When asked to explain that how businesses could get a tax increase and reduction, he said that businesses “might have to pay a little bit more than my proposal, not more than they pay now.” His campaign didn’t respond to a request for further clarification.
Mr. Trump, who has declined to release his tax returns, made the remarks when he was pressed to clarify shifting comments about his stance on the tax burden for the wealthy, as well as where he stands on the minimum wage.
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Last week, Mr. Trump indicated to CNBC that his priority was to protect tax cuts for the middle class, that he wasn’t “necessarily a huge fan” of the way the tax cuts in his own plan were distributed and could see some rates rise in a negotiation.
Mr. Trump’s tax proposal, released last fall, would lower rates for all income groups, dropping the top rate on corporations to 15% from 35% and the top rate on business income for individuals to 15% from 39.6%. He also would repeal the estate tax and push millions of middle-income families off the income-tax rolls.
The plan was estimated to boost the after-tax incomes of the wealthiest households by an average of more than $1.3 million a year, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Mr. Trump has been less specific about what tax breaks would go away, and his website on Sunday that his plan wouldn’t increase federal budget deficits.
The Tax Policy Center found that the plan would reduce tax collections by $9.5 trillion over a decade, making it several times as large as President George W. Bush’s tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 while removing 22% of projected federal revenue.
In the NBC interview, Mr. Trump said he had proposed “the biggest tax cut by far of any candidate.” But, he added: “But that doesn’t mean that’s what we’re going to get. We have to negotiate.”
Mr. Trump on Sunday also appeared to be hashing out conflicting instincts on the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour. In past months, he has been a forceful opponent of raising the level, saying higher wages would make the U.S. less competitive with other countries and even suggesting in a debate last fall that wages were too high—a statement he subsequently backed away from. But in the ABC interview, Mr. Trump said, “I haven’t decided in terms of numbers. But I think people have to get more.”
Asked why he was shifting his position from that during the primary, Mr. Trump told ABC, “Sure it’s a change. I’m allowed to change. You need flexibility.”
In the NBC interview, Mr. Trump said: “I don’t know how people make it on $7.25 an hour. Now, with that being said, I would like to see an increase of some magnitude. But I’d rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide.”
Mr. Trump also signaled a willingness last week to raise the minimum wage. In an interview on CNN on Wednesday, asked whether the level should be increased, he said: “I am open to doing something with it because I don’t like that.” He said he was “very different from most Republicans” on the subject and added: “You have to have something that you can live on.”
At the same time, he said: “What I really do like is bring our jobs back so they’re making much more than the $15” base that some have proposed.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has said she supports raising the federal minimum to $12 an hour and has called for state and local governments to boost it higher. Rival presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has pushed for a $15-an-hour floor.
Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com and Richard Rubin at richard.rubin@wsj.com
