Effective Tax Rates under Romney and Obama
The Tax Policy Center has just released its analysis of Mitt Romneys newest tax proposal. That certainly calls for a chart. So here are Romneys and Obamas tax plans, side by side:
Note that the Tax Policy Center could only conduct a partial analysis of Romneys tax plan. Thats because Romneys proposal itself is incomplete. Hes said that he wants to scrap various deductions in the tax code, particularly for high earners, in order to broaden the tax base. But he hasnt offered any details about which deductions hed scrap or how, so there wasnt anything for the Tax Policy Center to analyze.
Based on the details Romney has provided so far, his plan would lower tax rates for the top quintile by 5.4 percent, saving the wealthiest an average of $16,134. (The top 1 percent of earners, meanwhile, would save an average of $149,997.) The lowest fifth of earners, by contrast, would see a small tax increase of 1.3 percent under Romneys plan, owing the federal government an additional $143 extra on average.
Obamas tax proposal, meanwhile, would keep tax rates roughly the same except for married couples making over $250,000 per year (or single earners making more than $200,000 per year). On average, under Obamas plan, the top 1 percent would be paying about $87,173 more per year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/romneys-and-obamas-tax-plans-in-one-chart/2012/03/01/gIQAZCtClR_blog.html