Home / Fall 2016 / Tax loopholes hurt working class citizens

Tax loopholes hurt working class citizens

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Written by Jada Dukes, Staff Writer

When it comes to taxes are we all paying our fair share? According to Presidential candidate, Donald Trump that is not the case seeing as he and many “smart” business men like him have been taking advantages of loopholes to get out of paying taxes.

There has been a lot of talk about taxes during the presidential debates. Donald Trump promises to make sure the rich are paying their fair share while Hillary Clinton insists upon leveling the playing field when it comes to millionaires paying their taxes.

There has been a lot of controversy circling around Trump after The New York Times released pages from a 1995 income tax return belonging to Trump. The pages show that trump claimed a $916 million dollar loss that may have allowed him to skip out on paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years according to the times. “I see that as very unfair,” Said Mehvish durrani, sophomore biology and chemistry major.

For months Trump denied ever saying he didn’t pay taxes, but now after the release of hi 1995 tax return documents Trump recently stated that not paying taxes made him “Smart” and that it was “what any smart business man would do.”

“He’s inconsistent which makes me question his candidacy,” said Duranni. In response to Trump’s excuse of being a smart business man Duranni added, “A business leader’s objective is to make a profit so technically in that sense it is, but from a moral standpoint it’s not.”

What’s even more infuriating is that currently, Trump has yet to release his most recent tax return and according to Clinton we may never see it. During the debate, Trump that he’s waiting for a “routine audit,” and once it was finished he would happily release his tax return.

According to Trump’s website his plan is to “collapse the current seven tax brackets into three” and “low-income Americans will have an effective income tax of 0.”  Trump said he plans to tax joint filers that make less than $75,00 at a rate of 12% and those that make more 225,000 at a rate of 33%. It is noted on Trump’ website that the brackets for single filers are half of the previous amounts.

Clinton wants to close all “private tax systems “that allowed “smart business men” like Trump to avoid paying taxes. According to HillaryClinton.com, Clinton plans to achieve these goals by “strengthening the Buffet rule,” that ensures a 30% tax for those who earn more than $1 million a year. The website also stated that Clinton plans on closing the “Bermuda reinsurance loophole and the Romney loophole.”

When it comes to taxes, everyone should be paying their fair share. America thrives off of the tax payer’s money and it unfair to the members of the working class that these kinds of loopholes exist. American citizens should be concerned about these loopholes. In fact, they should be outraged.

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