Hillary Clinton would save about $1.7 million a year under Donald Trump's tax plan


You may or may not agree with Hillary Clinton's tax proposals, but they're clearly not self-serving. Under the policies she supports, Lynnley Browning at Bloomberg News estimates, Clinton and husband Bill Clinton would have paid at least $224,000 more in 2015, based on the tax returns Clinton's presidential campaign released last week. Under Donald Trump's proposed tax overhaul, on the other hand, the Clintons would have saved an estimated $1.7 million last year, Browning says. A group of accountants and tax specialists signed off on those numbers as realistic and likely in the right ballpark.
With their reported 2015 adjusted gross income of $10.6 million, the Clintons would have seen their effective tax rate of 34.2 percent (or $3.2 million in income tax) cut down to close to Trump's proposed 15 percent rate for individuals' business income. Since Trump has not released any of his tax returns, it is impossible to know how the dueling tax plans would help or hurt him. He would certainly get a tax cut under his own plan — if he pays any federal income tax at all; he has paid $0 before and may still — and would pay more under Clinton's proposals. You can see how Browning arrives at her numbers at Bloomberg News.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
August 2 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a tariff self-own, rough times at the Trump golf course, and more
-
5 inexcusably hilarious cartoons about Ghislaine Maxwell angling for a pardon
Cartoons Artists take on the circle of life, Ghislaine's Island, and more
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement