Analysis: Ted Cruz's tax plan would favor the wealthy

The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research center, says the tax plan unveiled by Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz in November would cut federal revenues by $8.6 trillion over 10 years, adding significantly to the debt.

Cruz's plan calls for a flat 10 percent individual income tax; repealing the corporate income tax, payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and estate and gift taxes; increasing the standard deduction and getting rid of most other deductions with the exception of charity and mortgage interest; and introducing a 16 percent value-added consumption tax, Reuters reports.

The Tax Policy Center says the value-added tax would only replace 70 percent of the costs of the tax cuts, and the plan in general would "cut taxes at most income levels, although the highest-income households would benefit the most and the poor the least." The center's analysis finds that taxpayers with incomes over $3.7 million would see an average cut of almost 29 percent, while "households in the middle of the income distribution would receive an average tax cut of $1,800, or 3.2 percent of after-tax income, while taxpayers in the lowest quintile would receive an average tax cut of $46, or 0.4 percent of after-tax income."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up