Gingrich's Plan Far Bolder than Perry's Plan and Will Lead to Far More Robust Job Creation and Capital Investment in United States
| Gingrich | Perry | Verdict: Gingrich Plan Better |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | 15% |
20% |
Gingrich has advocated for several years an optional flat tax rate of 15%, which when coupled with Gingrich’s bold entitlement and regulatory reforms, will usher in another era of booming economic growth and new, higher-paying jobs. The Perry rate of 20% is higher than the 17% that Steve Forbes proposed in his 1996 and 2000 presidential campaign. |
| Who Gets to Make Deductions for Charitable Giving and Home Ownership?? | Everyone |
Families making less than $500,000/year |
By creating two separate classes of taxpayers, the Perry plan buys into the same class warfare that characterizes the Obama and Romney economic plans. The fact that there are still two brackets – even under a supposed “flat tax” plan – calls into question whether this is really a flat tax at all. |
| State and Local Tax Deductions | Not deductible in optional flat tax plan | Deductible in optional flat tax plan | The Gingrich plan has a lower rate so less need for state and local deductions. The deduction is a federal subsidy for states to adopt higher state and local taxes. Removing the subsidy would lead states to reduce state and local taxes, or adopt their own flat tax reforms. The Perry plan erodes states’ competitive advantages by making state and local taxes deductible in his optional flat tax plan. |
| Who Benefits from Elimination of Capital Gains Tax? | Everyone | Depends whether capital gains is long term or short term. Perry’s plan eliminates cap gains only for long term. |
The Gingrich plan maximizes the capital investment and job creation that will accompany the elimination of this tax. The Perry plan only goes halfway, and by levying up to 35% tax on short-term capital gains, it will discourage investment, venture capital, and new jobs creation. |
| Corporate Income Tax | 12.5% |
20% |
The Gingrich plan will create a boom of new American entrepreneurship by dramatically cutting the corporate tax rate to one of the lowest in the developed world. The Perry plan relies upon a short term “tax holiday,” then only drops the corporate tax rate to 20% -- only average in the developed world, and still over 20% higher than our closest economic competitor Canada, which has a rate of only 16.5%. Gingrich rate makes U.S. more competitive than Canada. |
| Payroll Taxes | Eventually replace payroll tax with personal accounts, financing better results | No change in existing payroll tax | Gingrich supports personal savings investment and insurance accounts that would eventually be expanded to finance all of the benefits now financed by the payroll tax, allowing that tax ultimately to be phased out altogether. |
| Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit | Both the EITC and the Child Tax Credit are preserved in Gingrich's optional flat tax system. | No information provided. | Preserving the EITC and Child Tax Credit are critical to ensure that the optional flat tax system does not unfairly target low-income Americans. Gingrich passed the first child tax credit as Speaker in 1997, and will preserve this credit and the EITC under his optional flat tax system. |
| Record in Achieving Dramatic Jobs and Economic Recovery at the National Level? | Yes. Substantial. See record at right. | None. | Speaker Gingrich's Record (1995-1999): • Eleven Million New Jobs |
Gingrich's Advocacy of the Flat Tax Dates Back to 1997
From Item 2 in Gingrich's 21st Century Contract with America (September 29, 2011)
All tax filers would be given the option to pay their income taxes subject to current income tax provisions or to pay under a lower single rate of taxation with limited deductions.
Release of Jobs and Prosperity Plan Upon Announcement of Campaign (May 13, 2011)
Move toward an optional flat tax of 15% that would allow Americans the freedom to choose to file their taxes on a postcard, saving hundreds of billions in unnecessary costs each year.
In his 2010 book, To Save America
To generate another lasting economic boom, we need fundamental tax reform, similar to that proposed by Steve Forbes. We should adopt the optional 15 percent flat tax with generous personal exemptions.
In his 2008 book, Real Change
This concept of an optional flat tax was developed by Steve Forbes when his flat tax campaign was undermined by criticisms that it would take away popular tax breaks. Steve Forbes and Stephen Moore have both proposed giving American taxpayers an opportunity to choose simplicity versus complexity and a single rate over a lot of deductions. They call it the free choice flat tax, and it's an idea whose time has come.
In a 2008 National Review op-ed with Texas Representative Michael Burgess
An optional flat tax would save taxpayers more than $100 billion per year and reduce compliance costs by over 90 percent. This is a stimulus package that would have an immediate effect on our American economy.
In Foreword to Steve Forbes' 2005 Book Flat Tax Revolution
I believe there is a real opportunity for a similar grass roots revolution imposing the flat tax on Washington. As people learn how much money and time they can save through a flat tax they are going to demand a simple alternative to the complexity and uncertainty of the Internal Revenue Service. As people spend hours in frustrating and seemingly endless paperwork and record keeping and preparing they are going to demand the freedom for their own time offered by a flat tax....As people watch the endless maneuvering of the lobbyists and the special interests they are going to demand the fairness of a flat tax.
As Speaker of the House in 1997
There are things I would like to do like a flat tax with virtual elimination of the IRS.
**UPDATE: The chart above has been updated to reflect information about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit.