Ben Carson presidential campaign, 2016/Taxes
From Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia's scope changes periodically, and this article type is no longer actively created or maintained. It may also contain neutrality issues.
 Ben Carson |
Retired Pediatric Neurosurgeon |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- In an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press on February 20, 2016, Carson said one of his first acts as president would be to “enact a six-month tax hiatus whereby U.S. corporations with profits parked overseas would be given the opportunity to bring it back to the U.S. at no penalty.”[2]
- During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Ben Carson touted his tax proposal. He said. “Well, I would suggest a fair tax system, and that's what we have proposed. A flat tax for everybody -- no exemptions, no deductions, no shelters, because some people have a better capability of taking advantage of those than others. You know, and then the other thing we have to do is stop spending so much money. You know, I -- my -- my mother taught me this. You know, she only had a third-grade education, but -- you know, she knew how to stretch a dollar. I mean, she would drive a car until it wouldn't make a sound, and then gather up all her coins and buy a new car. In fact, if my mother were secretary of treasury, we would not be in a deficit situation. But... you know, the -- the -- the fact of the matter is -- you know, if we fix the taxation system, make it absolutely fair, and get rid of the incredible regulations -- because every regulation is a tax, it's a -- on goods and services. And it's the most regressive tax there is. You know, when you go into the store and buy a box of laundry detergent, and the price has up -- you know, 50 cents because of regulations, a poor person notices that. A rich person does not. Middle class may notice it when they get to the cash register. And everything is costing more money, and we are killing our -- our -- our people like this. And Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will say it's those evil rich people. It's not the evil rich people. It's the evil government that is -- that is putting all these regulations on us so that we can't survive.”[3]
- During an anti-poverty forum on January 9, 2016, Carson said he opposed the earned income tax credit, calling the tax break, designed to help the poor, a “manipulation of the tax system.” He said, “I think we need to make the income tax system very simple and extremely fair and stop having all these different variations, because what those things do is they create bureaucracies and the need for this agency and this agency, and it just feeds the system.”[4]
- Carson's flat-tax plan was designed to reduce federal revenue by $5.6 trillion over the next 10 years, assuming no economic growth and by $2.5 trillion under assumptions that factor in growth, according to an analysis released January 6, 2016, by the Tax Foundation, a group that supports lower tax rates. The analysis said that without accounting for economic growth, Carson's plan would have increased taxes on all income groups other than the top 10 percent. After accounting for economic growth, all taxpayers would have seen in an increase in their after-tax incomes in the long run, though higher-income taxpayers would have seen the greatest increase.[5] [6]
- Carson proposed a tax plan on January 4, 2015, which included a 14.9 percent flat tax for both individuals and corporations. Carson's plan was designed to do away with the taxation of capital gains, dividends and interest income at the personal level. The proposal called for depreciation schedules to be replaced with an immediate 100 percent write-off of all capital investments and would have eliminated deductions for mortgage interest, charitable giving and state and local taxes. The Alternative Minimum Tax, taxes on estates and inheritance would also have been eliminated under the plan.[7] [8]
- At the fourth Republican primary debate on November 10, 2015, Ben Carson discussed his position on taxes. He said "Everybody should pay the same proportion of what they make. You make $10 billion, you pay a billion. You make $10, you pay one. You get [sic] same rights and privileges. I don't see how anything gets a whole lot fairer than that. But you also have to get rid of all the deductions and all the loopholes because that is the thing that tilts it in one direction or another. And you have to set the rate at an appropriate level."[9]
- In September 2015, Carson launched a petition requesting the IRS revoke the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ tax-exempt status. “The Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim group, recently demanded that I withdraw as candidate for the 2016 presidential race. By doing so, the organization has brazenly violated IRS rules prohibiting tax-exempt nonprofits like CAIR to intervene in a political campaign on behalf of—or in opposition to—a candidate,” Carson said.[10]
- In an interview on Fox Business in August 2015, Carson promoted his revenue-neutral proportional tax scheme. “You make $10 billion, you pay a billion. You make $10, you pay one [dollar]. [Of] course I would get rid of all the deductions and all of the loopholes but here’s the key, people, they look at a guy who put in a billion dollars, he’s got $9 billion left, that’s not fair – we need to take more of his money. That’s called socialism. And what made America … a great nation was we had a very different attitude. We would say he just put in a billion dollars, let’s create an environment that’s even better for him so that next year he can make $20 billion and put in $2 billion. That’s how we went from nowhere to the pinnacle of the world in record time. And it’s growth, it’s not taking what’s there and dividing it up and making it smaller,” Carson said.[11]
- The Washington Times reported on July 7, 2015, that Carson "called for a 'proportional tax' of somewhere between 10 percent and 15 percent on individual and corporate income, and for the elimination of all tax deductions, including the cherished mortgage-interest and charity-donation deductions." Carson also signed a "no new tax" pledge while campaigning in New Hampshire.[12]
- In an op-ed which appeared in The Washington Times on October 29, 2013, Carson wrote, "Grow the economy by simplifying the tax code and making it fair, reduce corporate tax rates to reverse the flow of economic activity out of our nation, engage in only obviously necessary regulatory activities, enact wise energy policies and put the appropriate emphasis on relevant education."[13]
- In February 2013, Carson suggested implementing a flat tax. He said, "What we need to do is come up with something simple. And when I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe, God, and he's given us a system. It's called a tithe. We don't necessarily have to do 10% but it's the principle. He didn't say if your crops fail, don't give me any tithe or if you have a bumper crop, give me triple tithe. So there must be something inherently fair about proportionality. You make $10 billion, you put in a billion. You make $10 you put in one. Of course you've got to get rid of the loopholes. Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him. It's that kind of thinking that has resulted in 602 banks in the Cayman Islands. That money needs to be back here building our infrastructure and creating jobs."[14]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Ben + Carson + Taxes
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ USA Today, "Report: Ben Carson to run for president," May 3, 2015
- ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Ben Carson: How to bring money to struggling cities," February 20, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "6th Republican debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant," January 14, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Carson slams earned income tax credit as ‘manipulation’," January 9, 2016
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Ben Carson Tax Plan Would Boost the Rich, Hurt the Poor — Report," January 6, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Carson’s tax plan would cost trillions, groups say," January 6, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Embattled Ben Carson announces flat tax plan," January 4, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Carson details 14.9 percent flat tax plan," January 4, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Who said what and what it meant: The 4th GOP debate, annotated," November 10, 2015
- ↑ Washington Times, "Ben Carson calls on IRS to revoke Muslim group’s tax-free status," October 3, 2015
- ↑ Fox Business, "Dr. Ben Carson’s 10% Flat Tax Plan," August 12, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Ben Carson signs ‘no new tax’ pledge, visits New Hampshire," July 7, 2015
- ↑ Washington Times, “Carson for President in 2016," April 13, 2014
- ↑ The Wall Street, "Journal Ben Carson for President," accessed March 2, 2015
