Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2016/Taxes
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 Rick Santorum |
Former U.S. Senator (1995-2007) Former U.S. Representative (1991-1995) |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- On October 13, 2015, Rick Santorum released his Economic Freedom Agenda. The centerpiece of the agenda is his 20/20 Flat Tax Plan, which proposes a 20 percent flat tax on individual income and a 20 percent flat tax on business income. The plan also proposed increasing the minimum wage; repealing Obamacare in order to pay for the flat tax proposal; approving the Keystone XL Pipeline; creating work requirements for means-tested entitlement programs; and reducing legal and illegal immigration.[2] [3]
- Santorum wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal on October 11, 2015, to promote his tax platform built around a flat individual tax rate of 20 percent. The marriage penalty, estate tax and alternative minimum tax would be eliminated. Except for charitable giving and mortgage interest, Itemized deductions would also be eliminated. The corporate tax rate would bet set at 20 percent, with a two-year phase-in period for American manufacturers to encourage job growth.[4]
- Speaking at the Voters First Forum on August 3, 2015, Santorum described his tax policy as setting income and corporate taxes to 20 percent and eliminating the VAT tax.[5]
- During his 2012 presidential campaign, Santorum proposed reducing "the number of income tax brackets from six to two (10% and 28%) and triple what his campaign identifies as the personal deduction that parents can claim for their children. Santorum would also eliminate the so-called marriage penalty, which often causes two-earner couples to owe more in federal income taxes than if they filed as single individuals. In addition, he would eliminate both the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax. And he would reduce the capital gains rate from 15% to 12%. For businesses, he would cut the corporate income tax rate in half to 17.5% and eliminate it entirely for manufacturers. Plus, he would increase the research and development credit and reduce the tax burden on U.S. companies that choose to bring back their overseas profits to the United States," according to CNN.[6]
- In 2005, Santorum sponsored S 922 - Savings for Working Families Act of 2005, which proposed allowing "certain low-income individuals between age 18 and 61 to establish tax-exempt individual development accounts (IDAs) to pay for certain qualified expenses, including education expenses, first-time homebuyer costs, and business capitalization or expansion costs."[7]
- In 1998, Santorum voted for S 442 - Internet Tax Freedom Act, which proposed prohibiting certain taxes on the Internet.[8]
Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Rick Santorum to Launch Second White House Bid," May 27, 2015
- ↑ Santorum Economic Freedom Agenda, accessed October 14, 2015
- ↑ Santorum 2016 website, "Senator Santorum Unveils His Economic Freedom Agenda," accessed October 14, 2015
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "A Flat Tax Is the Best Path to Prosperity," October 11, 2015
- ↑ WMUR, "Voters First Forum: Rick Santorum on economic subsidies, business tax incentives," August 3, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "Rick Santorum's tax plan," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "S.922," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "S.442," accessed March 18, 2015
