Romney says he would reduce or eliminate the taxes most of us currently pay. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts adopted under President George W. Bush? Extend them all. Individual income-tax rates? Reduce them by one-fifth across the board. Dividends and capital-gains taxes? Eliminate them for most taxpayers and keep the current low rates for those with high incomes. While he’s at it, the former Massachusetts governor would end the estate tax, repeal the alternative minimum tax, and ditch the higher tax rates enacted with Obama’s health-care-reform legislation. Here’s the cherry on top: Romney says he would offset the huge revenue losses dollar-for-dollar and still keep the tax code’s progressivity.
If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. Romney hasn’t said how he would accomplish all of this and not worsen the deficit or make the tax code less progressive—probably because it’s mathematically impossible.
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