George Pataki presidential campaign, 2016/Taxes

	; ; Former presidential candidate; George Pataki
	Political office: ; Governor of New York; (1995 - 2007);
	Pataki on the issues:
	Taxes • Banking policy • Government regulations • International trade • Budgets • Agricultural subsidies • Federal assistance programs • Labor and employment • Foreign affairs • Federalism • Natural resources • Healthcare • Immigration • Education • Abortion • Gay rights • Civil liberties
	Republican candidate:
	Donald Trump
	Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage; 2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016

George Pataki suspended his presidential run on December 29, 2015.^[1]

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

Americans for Tax Reform announced on November 4, 2015, that George Pataki had signed a pledge to “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.”^[2]

In an interview with U.S. News & World Report July 15, 2015, Pataki said he would scrap the current tax code in favor of something similar to the recommendations made by the bipartisan deficit reduction commission led by former Clinton administration official Erskine Bowles and former Republican senator Alan Simpson "I would essentially throw out the entire tax code, along the lines of the Bowles-Simpson recommendation. Get rid of the vast majority of the exemptions, credits and loopholes. I would keep things like the home mortgage interest deduction, the charitable credit and the [research and development] credit. But simplify it and dramatically lower the rates. I think we'd have a far fairer system. I don't know that I want to say [what my highest rate would be] now, but it would be dramatically lower than what it is today. It would be along the lines of Bowles-Simpson. Among other things, I am going to suggest that we have a tax rate on manufacturing that is the lowest in the developed world. Right now our corporate tax rate is the highest in the developed world." ^[3]

Pataki was appointed by Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo (D) to co-chair the Tax Relief Commission in 2013. The commission's purpose was to review New York state taxes "unduly burdensome to business, and to middle-class and working families."^[4] In December 2013, the Tax Relief Commission released its final report. According to the governor's Office, "The Commission's recommendations focus on providing property tax relief for New York homeowners and businesses and enhancing the State's economic competitiveness. In addition to providing tax relief, the Commission recommends providing incentives to local governments to reduce the cost of operations. Further recommendations include lowering the corporate tax rate to its lowest level in 46 years; reducing the tax rate for manufacturers Upstate to its lowest level ever; and updating the Estate Tax to bring New York in line with other states."^[5]

In a December 2011 interview on FOX Business, Pataki said, "We should extend the payroll tax cut. It helps families and it helps the economy."^[6]

Evaluating his tax record as governor of New York, the Cato Institute described Pataki as a "tax-cutting, small government governor" who became a "big spender." According to the Cato Institute, "Among his leading first-term accomplishments were his $3 billion, 25 percent income tax cut and a substantial cut in the capital gains tax and inheritance tax. But by his second term, he was proposing multi-billion dollar bond initiatives for roads and pork-barrel environmental projects. He raised the cigarette tax to $1.50 per pack. He raised taxes, on net, by more than $3 billion his final term in office."^[7]

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