Tax Plan

House Ways and Means Committee Democrats are planning on introducing a bill to cut corporate tax rates early next year, according to an article from the Dow Jones Newswire. As the article explains:

"The new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives will be an updated version of a corporate tax code blueprint introduced by House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel , D-N.Y., late last year... That bill would have cut the corporate rate from 35% to 30.5%. However, the new version will push that rate lower...The previous Rangel proposal was "revenue-neutral" in that it paid for the corporate rate reduction by repealing certain existing tax benefits. It would have raised most of the $364 billion, 10-year cost of the rate cut by repealing a deduction for domestic manufacturing activities, limiting tax breaks for multinationals' overseas income and disallowing the last-in, first-out method of accounting."

Although he provided few details, President-Elect Obama expressed support for reducing corporate tax rates - at least for domestic producers - during the campaign, and financing this reduction by cutting corporate tax loopholes.

November 6 - Yesterday, Professor Paul Caron of the popular blog TaxProf raised the question of what tax policy would look like under the Obama-Biden administration. He compiled the answers of fifteen tax professors from across the country and political spectrum. US Budget Watch has writen on the tax policies on which Senator Obama has campaigned. However, Steve Johnson of UNLV argues that:

"It would be a mistake to expect that either candidate's campaign tax planks will bear close correspondence to tax legislation actually enacted in the next 4 years."

October 31 - To help voters better understand the fiscal implications of the candidates' campaign proposals, CRFB released four reports this week:

• Guide to Social Security: The 2008 Presidential Election
• Guide to Stimulus Proposals: The 2008 Presidential Election
• Guide to Health Care: The 2008 Presidential Election
• Guide to Tax Policy: The 2008 Presidential Election

In addition, CRFB released a special health care update to its voter guide: "Promises, Promises: A Fiscal Voter Guide to the 2008 Election".