Why Mitt Romney wants to cut individual and business tax rates

Hours before a GOP debate in Arizona, Mitt Romney released his plan to cut corporate tax rates to 28 percent. Mitt Romney also said he would cut individual tax rates by 20 percent.

|
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally at Tri-City Christian Academy in Chandler, Arizona, Feb. 22, 2012.

Republican Mitt Romney, hours before the next GOP debate, proposed an overhaul of the US tax system on Wednesday that he said would cut Americans' tax rates by 20 percent and limit deductions for the wealthy.

Romney unveiled his proposals just hours after President Barack Obama offered a plan of his own to revamp the corporate tax system, calling for a cut in the corporate tax rate and the closure of many business tax loopholes.

Adding some details to his earlier tax proposals, Romney's plan would put the top tax rate at 28 percent, down from the present 35 percent.

RECOMMENDED: Nine things you should know about Mitt Romney

Romney is seeking to regain momentum in his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and survive a strong challenge from conservative Rick Santorum with Arizona and Michigan to hold election contests on Feb. 28.

Romney's campaign hoped his tax plan would help prove his credentials as a fiscal conservative. It was released on a day when the four remaining Republican candidates were to gather in Arizona for another debate. Romney is scheduled to give an economic speech on Friday in Detroit.

"I'm going to lower rates across the board for all Americans by 20 percent," Romney told a campaign rally in Chandler.

Romney said his cuts would help businesses that pay at the individual tax rate to have more money so they can hire more people and pay higher wages.

Obama's re-election campaign immediately questioned how Romney would pay for his plan and avoid massive increases to budget deficits that have soared to $1 trillion under Obama.

"How does Romney pay for his plan? Romney claims to balance the budget, but his proposals to date actually increase the deficit by $2 trillion over the next decade. Will his new tax plan drive up the deficit even further?" the Obama campaign said.

All Republican candidates have called for a flatter, simpler, tax system to replace today's complicated tax code.

Romney's plan includes some standards on the Republicans' wish list for tax reform. He would reduce corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent, eliminate the inheritance tax and repeal the alternative minimum tax.

Romney said he believed his plans for the U.S. economy, which involve deep cuts in federal spending and overhaul of expensive programs for the poor and elderly, Medicare and Social Security, would trigger job growth and address record deficits.

"The right way forward is a flatter, fairer, simpler tax system that generates the revenue we need to fund a smaller government," said Romney.

To try to limit the impact of lower tax rates on the U.S. deficit, Romney proposed limits on tax deductions. He said the popular deductions for home mortgages and charitable contributions would continue for most Americans, but "for high-income folks, we're going to cut back on that."

"In order to limit any impact on the deficit - 'cause I don't want to add to the deficit...I'm going to limit the deductions and exemptions, particularly for high-income folks," said Romney.

He would maintain the current 15 percent rate on capital gains and proposed that no Americans with annual income below $200,000 pay taxes on capital gains. ( Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Jackie Frank)

RECOMMENDED: Nine things you should know about Mitt Romney

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Why Mitt Romney wants to cut individual and business tax rates
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/From-the-Wires/2012/0222/Why-Mitt-Romney-wants-to-cut-individual-and-business-tax-rates
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe