TAXATION

Tax non-profit corporations that have profits over $1MM and/or endowments larger than $100MM.  In 2023, The Top 10 endowments had assets of roughly $575 BILLION.   The Top 50 had assets totaling over $1 TRILLION.  These entities include Harvard, MIT, Columbia, and UPenn.  These entities have BILLIONS in income annually, and they are not taxed. Essentially, we are subsidizing the entities that allowed anti-Israel issues to fester and boil over with all of the rioting on college campuses. Taxation similar to C-Corp in Income is over an amount TBD.  Taxation on Non-Profit Endowments as well.

Repeal or reduce the Long-Term Capital Gain (LTCG) tax discounts.  The LTCG tax reduction primarily benefits the rich.  While many people do invest in the stock market, most do so via their 401(k) or other tax-favored retirement savings. When retirement savings are withdrawn they are taxed at ordinary income rates and therefore do not enjoy the lower tax rate afforded to individually owned equities.  According to an article dated September 2023, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) stated that in order to stabilize US debt, taxes would need to be raised or non-interest spending lowered by a modest 2.2%.  Senator Sanders has aways used the “Tax the Rich” policy.  According to EPI, the top 1% of US earners contribute roughly 42% of their income to taxes.  In order to balance the budget, the top 31.4% would see their tax rate shoot to 102%.

The amount of the exemption allowed in 2024 is $13.61 Million per individual or $27.2 Million per married couple.  This means that a couple can give away over $25 Million to others during their lifetime or at death.  This further accelerates wealth disparity among the rich and not so well off.  If the exemptions were cut in half, many more would be paying estate taxes. In addition, in 2024, there is no tax for gifting up to $14,000 annually to any individual.  I propose that the untaxed limit be cut at least in half.  We should reduce the millions that generations can continue to receive in tax free assets.

According to the Tax Policy Center paper in Jan 2023, some spending cuts popular with the House GOP would increase the deficit. For example, CBO estimates the House vote to slash most new IRS funding would add $114 Billion to the deficit over the next decade since fewer resources would make it harder for the agency to collect taxes owed.  Assume no tax increases, which are improbable in the House. And key House Republicans, including the new Appropriations Committee chair Kay Granger (R-TX), say they won’t cut military spending. That means Republicans would have to fill the entire $20 trillion fiscal hole by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other domestic programs, plus whatever savings they’d get from lower interest payments.  If Republicans protect military spending, Social Security benefits would be slashed by roughly 30 percent. If the cut occurred this year, the House would cut the average monthly benefit by $565, from $1,827 to less than $1,300.  I would be in favor of increasing both the individual and corporate contribution rate from the current rate of 6.2% to 6.65 (an effective increase of roughly 0.45%) and permanently eliminate the cap on Medicare tax (currently $168.600).

• Corporate taxation should be revised to align more closely with international norms, while eliminating unnecessary deductions.