Clinton Proposing the Closing of Loopholes in Real Estate

The wealth of Donald Trump has helped to define the presidential race of 2016 as well as shaping the tax debate within the campaign.

Trump says he knows how to fix the nation’s tax code as well as close loopholes such as the one that have allowed him to go close to 20 years without having to pay an federal income tax.

He said that Hillary Clinton would not. He said she complains he took advantage of the country’s tax code, but adds why didn’t she have it changed.

However, Clinton in fact is proposing tax code changes that would eat into the GOP candidate’s bottom line as well as that of his entire family including the limitation of one provision that many use in Trump’s industry.

At the same time, Trump proposes changes that benefit the wealthy families such as his and of course, that would include the Clintons.

A new review from the Tax Policy Center at Urban-Brookings found Clinton would raise taxes dramatically for the wealthy, with the average person in the top 0.1% paying an additional $800,000 under her proposed plan.

In contrast, Trump would cut taxes across the board for the most part, but in a much more dramatic way for wealthy individuals, as a typical person in the top 0.1% would have an increase in income of over $1 million.

Trump’s campaign released another statement through Stephen Miller its policy director that slammed the analysis by the Tax Policy Center as being illegitimate. However, Miller did not respond to any questions about how the plan might affect the personal taxes of Trump.

Trump wants to eliminate estate taxes for large inheritances, a possible windfall for heirs of his, while Clinton wants to increase that tax to 65% from 40%.

Both of the candidates propose the taxing of capital gains at high rates, which would eat into what they leave their heirs.

However, Trump wants to cut capital gains taxes, reduce taxes on the top earners to 33% from the current 39.6%, lower the corporate rates to only 15% and possibly create a loophole that would help people that are at his level financially.

Breaking from precedent for a candidate for the White House, Trump has been refusing to release his own tax returns. That in turn makes it tough to determine how the tax plans he proposes would benefit him or his family.

However, three pages from a state return for 1995 were obtained by the New York Times where he claimed over a $900 million loss, that could have helped him avoid paying taxes at the federal level for up to 18 years.