Would Mitt Romney actually raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans?
A nonpartisan think tank crunches the numbers, and they're not pretty: Under Romney, middle-class families could see their tax bills jump by hundreds of dollars

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
This week, the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank run by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, released a provocative report showing that Mitt Romney's tax plan would raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans. The Republican has promised a raft of specific tax cuts as well as a balanced budget, a feat that would be impossible to accomplish without drastically increasing tax revenue, severely cutting spending, or both. Romney has refused to explain in detail how he would avoid a massive deficit, only vaguely suggesting that he could make the numbers work by scrapping other tax benefits and loopholes. The Tax Policy Center crunched the numbers for all the loopholes that could possibly be closed, and came to a conclusion that many tax experts have long suspected: Romney's plan would result in a huge break for the rich, and burden the middle and lower tax brackets with a bigger bill. Here, a guide to the ins and outs of Romney's tax plan:
What is Romney's tax plan, exactly?
Romney has promised to cut taxes for all Americans by reducing individual income tax rates by 20 percent across the board. He favors eliminating taxes on capital gains and other income earned from investments, ending the estate tax, repealing the alternative minimum tax, and overturning ObamaCare, which includes tax increases on the wealthy.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And what did the study find?
The Tax Policy Center calculated that Romney's proposals would result in a $360 billion shortfall by 2015. How would he make up for that lost cash? The think tank tried eliminating every single tax loophole for households earning more than $200,000 a year, and found that Romney would still come up short. So that means turning to other tax benefits — often related to health care, mortgages, and college tuition — that tend to be used by middle- and lower-income households. Eliminating those benefits would help Romney close the gap — but would also cost most Americans more money than they'd save under Romney's reduced tax rates. For example, a household earning between $50,000 and $75,000 would pay an extra $641 in taxes a year under President Romney. A household earning more than $1 million would get an $88,000 tax cut.
Hold on. Couldn't Romney just cut spending?
Yes. But government spending also "tends to benefit low- and middle-income households," says Derek Thompson at The Atlantic. Because a GOP president is unlikely to slash military spending, "the cuts would focus even more on programs that provide services or cash to the poor, sick, and elderly." That isn't hyperbole: "Poor, sick, and old is simply where the vast majority of non-combat government spending goes." So even if Romney cut spending instead of raising taxes, it would still hit the pocketbooks of middle- and low-income families.
What does Team Romney say?
Unsurprisingly, the Romney campaign dismissed the study's findings as a liberal hatchet job, noting that one of the study's three authors had been on President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. However, another author of the study had been an economic adviser to George W. Bush, and the Romney campaign has cited the Tax Policy Center as an "objective, third-party" think tank in the past. What's astonishing is "the complete and utter inability of the Romney campaign to respond to today's study with appropriate facts and figures revealing why, in their judgment, the study gets it wrong," says Rick Ungar at Forbes.
How has President Obama responded?
Obama is, of course, all over the study. Romney is "asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a tax cut," Obama said at a rally in Mansfield, Ohio. "And you don't have to take my word for it."
Sources: The Atlantic, Bloomberg, CBS, Forbes, The New York Times (2), Talking Points Memo
Read more political coverage at The Week's 2012 Election Center.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
6 vibrant homes with art studios
Feature Featuring a six-bedroom home in Vermont and a rustic-modern house in California
By The Week Staff Published
-
Experts are worried about tuberculosis again
Speed Read The deadly disease regained its crown as the world's biggest infectious killer in October 2022
By Devika Rao Published
-
The daily gossip: Beyoncé is bringing the 'Renaissance' tour to movie theaters, Taylor Swift attends another Chiefs game with famous pals, and more
Feature The daily gossip: October 2, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Dianne Feinstein, history-making Democratic US senator, dies at 90
The Explainer Her colleagues celebrate her legacy as a trailblazer who cleared the path for other women to follow
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Will the cannabis banking bill get the Senate's green light?
Talking Point The SAFER Banking Act is advancing to the US Senate for the first time, clearing a major hurdle for legal cannabis businesses. Does it stand a chance?
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries chosen to succeed Pelosi as leader of House Democrats
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker may really be in peril
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Are China's protests a real threat for Beijing?
opinion The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web
By Harold Maass Published
-
Who is Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who dined with Trump and Kanye?
Speed Read From Charlottesville to Mar-a-Lago in just five years
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Jury convicts Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy in landmark Jan. 6 verdict
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published