Clinton Tax Plan Could Raise $1.4T, Child Tax Credit Increase Boon for Families

With less than a month to go until the presidential election, one of the topics that's front and center is taxes. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have very different views on how they would tax individuals and businesses. Cutting through the campaign rhetoric can sometimes be a challenge, but the Tax Foundation is just out with its latest analysis of the Clinton plan. Secretary Clinton's tax proposals would raise $1.4 trillion in revenue over 10 years. Two of Clinton's most recent proposals would have the biggest impact on individuals and families. The child tax credit would double to $2,000 for families with children under the age of four. Alan Cole, economist on the federal tax policy team at the Tax Foundation, says it would be a boon for middle-class taxpayers and would cost about $199 billion over 10 years on a static basis. Another proposal Secretary Clinton has put forth is overhauling the estate tax to require much higher payments from the largest estates, though Cole says it is likely that less than ten people would ever pay the highest tax rate. The progressive estate tax would likely raise $309 billion over 10 years, on a static basis. Tax Foundation says taxes would go up just slightly across the board, but Cole says, "It's not going to be a huge deal to growth. it's not going to fundamentally transform the economy, but we do see it as a slight drag on GDP growth." Trump's tax plan would say a lot of tax rates coming down across the board which Cole says could be great for the economy. "But, we also have his plan reducing federal revenue by between $4.5 trillion and $6 trillion and we really don't see how he's planning to make up that revenue loss in terms of spending or other proposals. We think growth can get you some of the way there, but not nearly all of it."