2020 presidential candidates on taxes

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Presidential election
Donald Trump

Joe Biden

Howie Hawkins

Jo Jorgensen

This page includes statements from the 2020 presidential candidates on taxes. These statements were compiled from each candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews. Click the following links for policy statements about related issues: the economy, Social Security, paid leave, and minimum wage.

The candidates featured on this page are the 2020 presidential nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green parties.

Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Howie Hawkins
Jo Jorgensen

Taxes

Republican candidates

Donald Trump

Donald Trump's campaign website says, "Under President Trump’s leadership, Congress passed historic tax cuts and relief for hard-working Americans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Is the first major tax reform signed in 30 years. Provided tax relief for 82% of middle-class families. Doubled the Child Tax Credit proving an additional $1,000 per child in tax relief for working parents. Nearly doubled the standard deduction, a change that simplified the tax filing process for millions of Americans. Cut taxes for small business by 20%, providing $415 billion in tax relief for small business owners. Alleviated the tax burden on over 500 companies. who used those savings to fund bonuses, wage increases for 4.8 million workers." ^{[source, as of 2020-06-22]}

Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford's campaign website says, "For the last fifty years, Americans have sent in about 18% of GDP (the whole of all that is spent and consumed in our country) in taxes each year to the federal government. I do not believe this number should go up, but I do believe we could move to a fairer and simpler tax system along the lines of a fair tax or flat tax. Presently, more than a trillion dollars a year is carved out in the form of tax exemptions, and I believe a flatter and broader tax system would be helpful to individual liberty, job creation, and American competitiveness." ^{[source, as of 2019-09-10]}

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh's campaign website does not include a statement outlining his position on taxes.

When asked about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on CNN, Walsh said, "That was a horrible tax cut...I believe in cutting taxes. That was a bad tax cut. I would have given the middle class a payroll tax cut." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-26]}

Bill Weld

Bill Weld said in a speech, "Federal taxes need serious adjustment downward. I favor repealing the federal death tax, for example, and cutting the capital gains tax rate to 10%. These taxes are not major revenue raisers, and they both have the perverse effect of penalizing people for a lifetime of hard work. Eliminating them will increase our aggregate national wealth, which should always be a key priority of the United States government. But we also need to restructure our entire tax system. We don’t need to choose between Robin Hood-style confiscatory taxation and deficit-creating tax cuts for the super-rich. We should instead take a good long look at some other models, such as a 19% flat tax on income, and the famous “post card” tax return. I have read extensively on the subject, and I believe the savings from the dramatic simplification of the Internal Revenue Code and the whole process of taxation would be enormous." ^{[source, as of 2019-02-15]}

Democratic candidates

Joe Biden

Joe Biden's campaign website says that, "Economic inequality is pulling this country apart. We need stronger labor laws and a tax code that rewards a middle class that’s been cut out of decades of economic growth—not just the wealthy, who have gotten too many tax breaks for too long."

Biden's website also says, "His first step will be reversing President Trump’s tax cuts for the super-wealthy and corporations. Joe will also eliminate special tax breaks that reward special interests and get rid of the capital gains loophole for multi-millionaires." ^{[source, as of 2020-06-18]}

Michael Bloomberg

Mike Bloomberg's campaign website says, "Mike’s proposals to reform the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) focus on the need for effective programs to raise the incomes of low-wage workers, encourage economic participation, share the gains of growth more broadly, and do as much as possible to end poverty in work. The proposals call for reforming the EITC to make it much more generous, especially for single childless workers, as well as simplifying the rules so that the credit is easier to administer. He also proposed a pilot program to expand the EITC benefit to cover family caregiving and other forms of unpaid or ineligible employment, with the goal of making this an integral part of his EITC reform. The proposal will also increase the Child Tax Credit to make it fully refundable, and phase it in faster, starting with the first dollar of earnings."

His website also says, "Mike’s housing proposals address the nation’s severe shortage of affordable housing, including an expansion of funding for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) that would add hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing over ten years." ^{[source, as of 2019-11-25]}

Cory Booker

In a statement emailed to supporters, Cory Booker said, "The truth of the matter is, right now, we have a tax system that is unfair to workers -- and this administration is working hard to make it even worse for everyone other than the wealthiest Americans and the biggest companies. I’ve had enough of President Trump’s idea that if we give the richest among us tax breaks, then somehow that’s going to help us all. It’s nonsense. I have a plan to cut taxes for more than half of all Americans. The Rise Credit would benefit millions of working and middle class people, not just the wealthy few."

The statement continues, "The Rise Credit would put up to $8,000 into the pockets of working Americans, cutting poverty by one-third and helping folks deal with the rising cost of living. Unlike the current tax code, the Rise Credit would also benefit low-income students and caregivers -- because traditional wage earners aren’t the only Americans who are working hard to support their families and find new avenues to opportunity. And for those who think it would be too expensive: This is something we can pay for almost entirely by changing the way we tax investment income. Because it’s unconscionable that hedge fund managers can pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes than their secretaries." ^{[source, as of 2019-04-19]}

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg's campaign website did not include a statement about taxes.

His website says about the economy, "Economic policies have to be focused on growing incomes for the 90%. Targeting the majority of Americans will lead to growth for the majority of Americans. That’s why Pete will assess how the economy is doing by income growth for the 90%–the vast majority of Americans who are not in the richest tenth." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-21]}

Julián Castro

Julián Castro summarized his tax plan as follows: "Under my plan, 99 percent of Americans would see their taxes go down or stay the same. We can ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share and then invest that revenue into relief for working families."

Castro's tax plan includes the following proposals: "Replace the estate tax and gift tax with a unified inheritance gift tax. The first $2 million would be tax free for any recipient over their lifetime, and any additional inherited wealth would be subject to federal income and payroll taxes. Establish a Wealth Inequality Tax with mark-to-market taxation of capital for the top 0.1 percent of asset holders, which is about $40 million in assets. Repeal the Trump tax bill. Expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to provide $3,000 per child for every family, ensuring the credit is fully refundable. Expand and Reform the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-28]}

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard wrote in a Facebook post, "Another Tax Day, another year corporations like Amazon pay $0 taxes. The rich ^{[source, as of 2019-04-15]}

Kamala D. Harris

Kamala Harris' campaign website says, "Kamala’s first priority as president will be to give working and middle class families an overdue income boost. Under her plan, she’ll reverse President Trump’s trillion-dollar tax cut for big corporations and the top 1% and use that money to give a tax credit of up to $6,000 to working families each year. While Kamala fights for fair wages, she’ll work to constrain the rising costs that keep Americans up at night. She’ll pass her Rent Relief Act to provide a tax credit for people spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent and utilities." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-20]}

Amy Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar's campaign published a plan for her first 100 days in office, which says she will "repeal the regressive portions of 2017 Republican tax reform, equalize tax rates for capital gains and ordinary income, put the Buffet rule in place, and close the carried interest and big oil loopholes."

The plan also says that she will, "Prevent outsourcing of jobs overseas by closing tax loopholes on corporations’ overseas earnings.", "Provide Americans a strong taxpayer advocate.", "Improve free tax filing", "Crack down on money laundering and tax evasion.", and "Prevent abuses by IRS private debt collectors." ^{[source, as of 2019-06-18]}

Beto O'Rourke

O'Rourke's website says the following about taxes: "Impose a 0.1% financial transaction tax and use the revenue to support educational equity programs while also cutting down destabilizing speculation of high frequency traders." "Increase the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, making it refundable so that low-income families, who may not have tax liability, can still benefit." "Under Beto's plan, every new Veterans Health Care Trust Fund would be paired with enactment of new war tax. This modest tax would be implemented on a progressive basis, with taxpayers who make over $200,000 per year (adjusted gross income) paying $1,000 in a new tax for each war. The tax would be levied on households without current members of the Armed Forces or veterans of the Armed Forces." "ensuring that millionaires and billionaires no longer pay proportionately less in Social Security taxes than truck drivers and nurses." "structural changes to the tax code that ensure corporations and the wealthiest among us pay their fair share and that we finally end the tens of billions of dollars of tax breaks currently given to fossil fuel companies." And more than $1 trillion in tax incentives to lower greenhouse gas emissions. ^{[source, as of 2019-08-28]}

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders campaign website says, "It is unacceptable that major corporations have paid nothing in federal income taxes, and that corporate CEOs in this country often enjoy an effective tax rate that is lower than their secretaries. If we are serious about reforming the tax code and rebuilding the middle class, we have got to demand that the wealthiest Americans, large corporations, and Wall Street pay their fair share in taxes."

His campaign website says he would: Pass the For the 99.8 Percent Act to establish a progressive estate tax on multi-millionaire and billionaire inheritances. Eliminate offshore tax scams through the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act. Tax Wall Street speculators through the Inclusive Prosperity Act. Scrap the income cap on Social Security payroll taxes through the Social Security Expansion Act so that millionaires and billionaires pay more into the system. End special tax breaks on capital gains and dividends for the top 1%. Substantially increase the top marginal tax rate on income above $10 million. Close tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy and large corporations." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-23]}

Thomas Steyer

Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "Tax breaks for the wealthiest people in our country aren’t working, and aren’t fair. If we are going to solve the widespread issue of economic inequality in America, we need to stop cutting taxes for the rich. Tom called for an additional 1 percent annual wealth tax on the top 0.1 percent of American families, months before any other presidential candidate. That means if you’re one of the 175,200 richest families worth more than $32 million, you’ll pay a penny on every dollar you have above that level." ^{[source, as of 2019-09-10]}

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren's campaign website features two tax proposals. The Real Corporate Profits Tax proposes a 7% tax on profits above $100 million. The Ultra-Millionaire Tax proposes "an annual 2 percent tax on every dollar of net worth above $50 million and a 3 percent tax on every dollar of net worth above $1 billion."

Warren said of the Real Corporate Profit Tax, "According to an estimate from economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman at the University of California-Berkeley, the tax will bring in $1 trillion in revenue over the next ten years." She said of the Ultra-Millionaire Tax, "Because wealth is so concentrated, Saez and Zucman project that this small tax on roughly 75,000 households will bring in $2.75 trillion in revenue over a ten-year period." ^{[source, as of 2019-04-11]}

Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "Taxing income is an increasingly ineffective and inefficient way to generate revenue over time. Take a company like Amazon—it can do tens of billions in business and pay no income tax in a given period while storing its income overseas. A Value-Added Tax is a much more efficient way to capture the true value of the American infrastructure and will be increasingly necessary over time as more and more work is done by software, robots and artificial intelligence."

Yang's website lists the following tax proposals: "Implement a Value-Added Tax at 10%, half the European level. Instruct the IRS to implement a system whereby any American can opt into a program to have their taxes filed automatically. Instruct the IRS to coordinate with the Treasury to prepare a report on federal spending, and send each taxpayer a rundown of the actual amount of their taxes that went to each major spending area (e.g., domestic programs, foreign aid, military, etc). Increase the budget of the IRS by 50% to $16.2 billion and modernize it with the latest technology. Propose an end to favorable tax treatment for capital gains and carried interest. Ending the carried interest treatment loophole alone would generate $18 billion per year in revenue and ending favorable treatment of capital gains would generate tens of billions more. Propose a 0.1% financial transaction tax that would raise as much as $50 billion per year that will be used to help fund Universal Basic Income. Create a federal holiday on the date taxes are due." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-29]}

Green candidates

Howie Hawkins

Howie Hawkins' campaign website says, "First, we need to end the regressive payroll tax by lifting the $128,400 cap on Social Security taxes. Second, put in place more a progressive income tax, especially on the wealthiest. Third, institute a wealth tax. Fourth, increase the inheritance tax, reversing the trend of reducing such taxes. Fifth, tax wealth at the same rates we tax work. Capital gains — profits from the sale of stocks, bonds, and other assets — are taxed at much lower rates than income from work is taxed. Sixth, put in place a progressive carbon tax as a tool to combat the climate crisis." ^{[source, as of 2020-07-09]}

Libertarian candidates

Jo Jorgensen

Jo Jorgensen's campaign website says, "Taxes are never voluntary – they are always paid under threat of punishment. If you fail to pay what government says you owe, you can be fined, have your wages garnished, assets seized, even go to prison. Voting for more government spending inevitably leads to higher taxes to pay for it – now, or in the future. As President, I will work tirelessly to slash federal spending, make government much, much smaller, and let you keep what you earn.” ^{[source, as of 2020-07-28]}

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2020 presidential candidates on abortion

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2020 presidential candidates on gun regulation

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Impeachment

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Labor

Trade

Footnotes