TPC Tax Topics | Summary of Tax Proposals of 2012 GOP Candidates

E-mail Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address to receive periodic updates on TPC publications and events.

newsletter archive

Summary of Major Tax Proposals by GOP Presidential Candidates

View this page as a PDF Return to previous page

Major Federal Tax Issues

Rep. Michele
Bachmann

Herman
Cain

Newt
Gingrich

Jon
Huntsman

Rep. Ron
Paul

Gov. Rick
Perry

Mitt
Romney

Rick
Santorum

Individual Income and Payroll Provisions
Expiring Tax Cuts¹	Extend all	Replace	Extend all	Replace	Extend all	No extensions	Extend all	Replace
Tax Rates and Brackets	Reduce number of brackets	Repeal individual income taxes	Choice of current system or 15% single rate	Three rates: 8%, 14%, and 23%	Replace individual income tax with Fair Tax or Flat tax after repealing the 16th Amendment	Choice of current system or 20% single rate²	Reduce all ordinary tax rates 20%; top tax rate would be 28%	Two rates: 10% and 28%
Capital Gains and Dividends, and Interest Income	-	-	Exempt³	Exempt capital gains and dividends	Exempt capital gains	Exempt qualified dividends and long-term capital gains	Exempt for households with AGI less than $200,000	12% rate on capital gains and dividends
Exemptions, Deductions, Credits, and Other Tax Preferences	-	-	1) Allow $12,000 exemption per person 2) Retain child credit, EITC, and deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions 3) Allow tax credit or deduction for health insurance purchased	Eliminate all deductions and credits	Has supported legislation to provide additional tax credits and deductions for education costs, alternative energy, and health care	Under alternative syetem 1)$12,500 per person exemption 2)Deductions for charitable contributions, mortgage interest, state and local taxes 3) Phase out deductions for incomes over $500,000	Limit tax preference for high-income taxpayers to maintain current revenues and distribution of tax shares	Retain deductions for charitable giving, home mortgage interest, for healthcare, and retirement. Triple the exemption for dependent children
AMT	"Fix the AMT"	-	Repeal³	Repeal	Repeal	Retain and do not patch under current system: repeal under 20% single rate system	Repeal	Repeal
Refundable Credits	Eliminate⁴	-	Retain EITC and CTC	Eliminate	-	Eliminate⁵	Retain	Retain
Payroll Tax	-	Repeal	Future repeal⁶	-	-	-	Supports a temporary reduction in payroll tax if properly structured	-
Taxes under the Affordable Care Act of 2010⁷	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal
Other Issues	-	Replace individual income taxes with consumption taxes (see below)	-	-	Repeal 1993 tax increase on Social Security benefits; eventually exempt Social Security benefits from taxation	Eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits. For eight years, taxpayers may choose to pay either tax under current law or 20 percent flat tax	-	Eliminate marriage penalties
Business Tax Provisions
Corporate Tax Rates	-	Repeal corporate income tax	12.5%	25%	15%	20%	25%	Cut corporate tax rate in half to 17.5% and reduce to 0% for manufacturers
Tax Preferences	-	-	Full expensing of capital expenditures (equipment and infrastructure)	Eliminate "all loopholes, deductions and tax expenditures"	-	1) Phase out corporate tax preferences 2) Retain industry-wide energy tax incentives for research and development 3) Full expensing for research and capital expenditures	1) Temporary Investment Tax Credit 2) Extend for one year the expensing of capital expenditures 3) Make research and development credit permanent	Increase R&D credit from 14% to 20% and make permanent. allow 100% expensing of equipment
Repatriated Corporate Profits	Allow repatriation at 5% tax rate following limited tax-free period	-	-	Tax holiday	Allow tax-free repatriation	Temporarily lower the tax rate on repatriation to 5.25%	Tax holiday	Eliminate tax on repatriated corporate income if used to invest in plant and equipment; tax other repatriated profits at 5.25% rate
Other	"Make corporate tax code simpler and fairer"	Replace corporate income tax with consumption tax (see below)	Change to a territorial system	Change to a territorial system	-	Change to a territorial system	1) Couple further rate reductions with base broadening and simplification; 2) Change to a territorial system 3) Repeal corporate AMT	-
Consumption Tax Provisions
Tax Rate	-	1) 9% "individual flat tax" 2) 9% "business flat tax" 3) 9% retail sales tax	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tax Preferences	-	1) Allow deduction for charitable contributions under individual tax. Empowerment Zones will allow additional deduction for individuals living/working in the zone. 2) Under business tax, Empowerment zones will allow deductions for payroll of those employed in the zone.	-	-	-	-	-	-
Other	NA	Move to the Fair Tax (a retail sales tax)in the future	-	-	Eventually move to Flat Tax or the Fair Tax after repealing the 16th amendment	-	-	-
Estate Tax Provisions
Estate tax	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal	Repeal

Last updated: February 23, 2012

Note: The Tax Policy Center will update this table as new information becomes available.

1. Most tax cuts enacted between 2001-10 are scheduled to expire in 2013.
2. Gov. Perry would allow taxpayers the option of paying individual income tax under current law for up to eight years. People choosing 20 percent option may not switch back.
3. Mr. Gingrich's framework would exempt capital gains and dividends and repeal the AMT in his single tax-rate system. Those changes would not apply to people opting to file under the current tax system.
4. Rep. Bachmann proposes that every taxpayer pay some individual income tax. That would require eliminating refundable credits.
5. Gov. Perry's flat tax framework would eliminate all refundable credits.
6. Mr. Gingrich proposes to replace payroll taxes with "personal accounts" in the future.
7. All the GOP presidential candidates have pledged to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, presumably including the taxes imposed by the act.

Sources:

1. Rep. Michele Bachmann, "American Jobs, Right Now: Blueprint for Economic Prosperity and Job Creation."
2. Herman Cain, "Cain's Vision for Economic Renewal: 9-9-9."
3. Newt Gingrich, "21st Century Contract with America"; "Let's Bump Plans: A Comparison of Gingrich and Romney's Tax Plans"; "Gingrich's Plan to Restore American Manufacturing is Far Bolder than Romney's."
4. Jon Huntsman, "Time to Compete: An American Jobs Plan."; "Jon Huntsman's Jobs Plan: Lower Taxes, Simplify Code." 5. Rep. Ron Paul, "Lower Taxes, Keep More of Your Money"; "Tax Reform Promises Treats, Delivers Tricks.";
"Plan to Restore America."
6. Gov. Rick Perry, "Governor Rick Perry's 2020 Vision: Cut, Balance and Grow"; "Energizing American Jobs and Security"; and "My Tax and Spending Reform Plan."
7. 7. Mitt Romney, "Believe in America: Mitt Romney's Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth." ; "Fact Checking the Republican Debate on the Economy." The New York Times. October 11, 2011. Available at ; "Restore America's Promise: More Jobs, Less Debt, Smaller Government."
8. Rick Santorum, "Defender of the Taxpayer."

View this page as a PDF Return to previous page