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Details and Analysis
of Hillary Clinton’s Tax Proposals
By Kyle Pomerleau and Michael Schuyler
Economist
Senior Fellow
Jan. 2016
No. 496
Key Findings:

· Hillary Clinton would enact a number of tax policies that would raise taxes on
individual and business income.

· Hillary Clinton’s plan would raise tax revenue by $498 billion over the next decade
on a static basis. However, the plan would end up collecting $191 billion over the
next decade when accounting for decreased economic output in the long run.

· A majority of the revenue raised by Clinton’s plan would come from a cap on
itemized deductions, the Buffett Rule, and a 4 percent surtax on taxpayers with
incomes over $5 million.

· Clinton’s proposals to alter the long-term capital gains rate schedule would
actually reduce revenue on both a static and dynamic basis due to increased
incentives to delay capital gains realizations.

· According to the Tax Foundation’s Taxes and Growth Model, the plan would
reduce GDP by 1 percent over the long-term due to slightly higher marginal tax
rates on capital and labor.

· On a static basis, the tax plan would lead to 0.7 percent lower after-tax income
for the top 10 percent of taxpayers and 1.7 percent lower income for the top 1
percent. When accounting for reduced GDP, after-tax incomes of all taxpayers
would fall by at least 0.9 percent.
2
Over the past few months, former Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton has proposed
a number of new and expanded government programs.1 In order to pay for these new or
expanded services, she has proposed raising and enacting a number of new taxes. Her plan
would increase marginal tax rates for taxpayers with incomes over $5 million, enact a 30
percent minimum tax (the Buffett Rule), alter the long-term capital gains tax rate schedule, and
limit itemized deductions to a tax value of 28 percent. Her plan would also restore the estate
tax to its 2009 parameters and would limit or eliminate other deductions for individuals and
corporations.
Our analysis finds that the plan would increase revenue by $498 billion over the next decade.
The plan would also increase marginal tax rates on both labor and capital. As a result, the plan
would reduce the size of gross domestic product (GDP) by 1 percent over the long term. This
reduction in GDP would translate into 0.8 percent lower wages and 311,000 fewer full-time
equivalent jobs. Accounting for the economic effects of the tax changes, the plan would end
up increasing federal tax revenues by $191 billion over the next decade.
Details of the Plan
Individual Income Tax Changes

·
Creates a 4 percent “surcharge” on high-income taxpayers, which effectively adds
an additional marginal tax rate of 43.6 percent for taxable income over $5 million
and a 24 percent top marginal tax rate for qualified dividend and long-term capital
gain income (Table 1).2
Table 1.
Table 1. Tax Brackets under Hillary Clinton’s Tax Plan
Ordinary
Income
Capital Gains
and Dividends
Single Filers
Married Filers
Head of Household
10%
0%
$0 to $9,275
$0 to $18,550
$0 to $13,250
15%
0%
$9,275 to $37,650
$18,550 to $75,300
$13,250 to $50,400
25%
15%
$37,650 to $91,150
$75,300 to $151,900
$50,400 to $130,150
28%
15%
$91,150 to $190,150
$151,900 to $231,450
$130,150 to $210,800
33%
15%
$190,150 to $413,350
$231,450 to $413,350
$210,800 to $413,350
35%
15%
$413,350 to $415,050
$413,350 to $466,950
$413,350 to $441,000
39.6%
20%
$415,050 to $5 million
$466,950 to $5 million
$441,000 to $5 million
43.6%
24%
$5 million and above
$5 million and above
$5 million and above

·
Enacts the “Buffett Rule,” which would establish a 30 percent minimum tax on
taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) over $1 million. The minimum tax
would phase-in between $1 million and $2 million of AGI.

·
Caps all itemized deductions at a tax value of 28 percent.
1
“Issues.” Hillary for America. https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/.
2 This excludes the impact of the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax. If that surtax is included, the top tax rate on ordinary
taxable income would be 47.7 percent, and the top tax rate on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains would be 27.8
percent.
3

·
Adjusts the schedule for long-term capital gains by raising rates on
medium-term capital gains to between 27.8 percent and 47.4 percent (Table 2).
Table 2.
Top Marginal Long-Term Capital Gains Tax Rate Schedule under Hillary
Clinton’s Tax Plan
Years Held
Marginal Tax Rate
Net Investment
Income Tax
Surtax on incomes
over $5 million
Combined Rate on
Capital Gains
Less than One
39.6%
3.8%
4%
47.4%
One to Two
39.6%
3.8%
4%
47.4%
Two to Three
36%
3.8%
4%
43.8%
Three to Four
32%
3.8%
4%
39.8%
Four to Five
28%
3.8%
4%
35.8%
Five to Six
24%
3.8%
4%
31.8%
More than Six
20%
3.8%
4%
27.8%

·
Limits the total value of tax-deferred and tax-free retirement accounts.*

·
Taxes carried interest at ordinary income tax rates instead of capital gains and
dividends tax rates.*

·
Enacts a new $1,200 tax credit for caregiver expenses.*
Business Tax Changes

·
Eliminates the deductibility of reinsurance premiums paid by corporations to
foreign subsidiaries and provides an exclusion from income for reinsurance
recovered for any arrangement where the deduction was disallowed.

·
Establishes business tax credits for profit-sharing and apprenticeships.*
Other Changes

·
Restores the federal estate tax to 2009 levels. This would increase the estate tax
rate to 45 percent and reduce the exemption to $3.5 million.

·
Enacts a tax on high-frequency trading, at an unspecified rate.*
Note: The asterisks (*) indicate provisions that were not modeled. For more information, see Modeling Notes, below.
Economic Impact
According to the Tax Foundation’s Taxes and Growth Model, Hillary Clinton’s tax plan would
reduce the economy’s size by 1 percent in the long run. The plan would lead to 0.8 percent
lower wages, a 2.8 percent smaller capital stock, and 311,000 fewer full-time equivalent
jobs. The smaller economy results from somewhat higher marginal tax rates on capital and
labor income.
4
Table 3.
Economic Impact of Hillary Clinton’s Tax Reform Proposals
GDP
-1.0%
Capital Investment
-2.8%
Wage Rate
-0.8%
Full-time Equivalent Jobs (in thousands)
-311
Source: Tax Foundation Taxes and Growth Model, October 2015.
Revenue Impact
Overall, the plan would increase federal revenue on a static basis by $498 billion over the
next 10 years. Most of the revenue gain is due to increased individual income tax revenue,
which we project to raise approximately $381 billion over the next decade. The changes to
the estate tax will raise an additional $106 billion over the next decade. The remaining $11
billion would be raised through increased taxes on corporations.
If we account for the economic impact of the plan, it would end up raising $191 billion over
the next decade. The slightly smaller economy would reduce wages, which would narrow
the revenue gain from the individual income tax changes to about $173 billion and reduce
payroll tax revenue by about $80 billion over the next decade.
Table 4.
Ten-Year Revenue Impact of Hillary Clinton’s Tax Reform Proposals
(Billions of Dollars)
Tax
Static Revenue Impact
(2016-2025)
Dynamic Revenue Impact
(2016-2025)
Individual Income Taxes
$381
$173
Payroll Taxes
$0
-$80
Corporate Income Taxes
$11
$12
Excise Taxes
$0
-$7
Estate and Gift Taxes
$106
$102
Other Revenue
$0
-$8
Total
$498
$191
Note: Individual items may not sum to total due to rounding.
Source: Tax Foundation Taxes and Growth Model, October 2015.
The largest sources of revenue in the plan are the new taxes targeted at high-income
taxpayers (Table 5). The introduction of the Buffett Rule, the 28 percent cap on itemized
deductions, and the new 4 percent surtax on high-income taxpayers would raise about $755
billion on a static basis. On a dynamic basis they raise slightly less ($521 billion) due to their
impact on the supply of labor and capital.
5
We estimate that Clinton’s proposal to alter the schedule for long-term capital gains would
end up losing $374 billion on a static basis. The higher rate for capital gains in the medium-
term (assets held between two and five years) would push people to realize their capital
gains later. Overall, this would reduce the number of realizations, and even with higher rates,
the policy will lose revenue.3 Dynamically, the policy would lose slightly more revenue ($409
billion) due to its small impact on the cost of capital.
Table 5.
Ten-Year Revenue and Economic Impact of the Clinton Plan by Provision
(Billions of Dollars, 2016-2025)
Provision
10-Year Static
Revenue
Impact
10-Year
Change in
Level of GDP
10-Year
Dynamic
Revenue
Impact
Enact “Buffett Rule” 30 Percent Minimum Tax on Millionaires
$321
-0.39%
$209
4 Percent Surtax on Taxpayers with Incomes over $5 Million
$141
-0.16%
$95
Restore Estate Tax to 2009 Parameters
$106
-0.10%
$76
Eliminate Deduction for Reinsurance Premiums Paid by Businesses
$11
-0.03%
$2
Cap the Tax Value of Itemized Deductions at 28 Percent
$293
-0.24%
$218
Adjusts the Schedule for Long-Term Capital Gains
-$374
-0.12%
-$409
Source: Tax Foundation Taxes and Growth Model, October 2015.
Distributional Impact
On a static basis, Clinton’s tax plan would only reduce the after-tax incomes of top-income
taxpayers. Those in the top 10 percent would see a reduction in income of 0.7 percent. The
top 1 percent of all taxpayers would see a 1.7 percent reduction in after-tax income.
On a dynamic basis, the plan would reduce after-tax incomes by an average of 1.3 percent.
All deciles would see a reduction in after-tax income of at least 0.9 percent over the long-
term. Taxpayers that fall in the bottom nine deciles would see their after-tax incomes decline
by between 0.9 and 1 percent. The top 10 percent of taxpayers would see a reduction in
after-tax income of 1.7 percent. The top 1 percent of all taxpayers would see the largest
decline in after-tax income: 2.7 percent.
3 Alan Cole, “The Details of Hillary Clinton’s Capital Gains Tax Proposal.” Tax Foundation. July 28, 2015. http://taxfoundation.org/blog/
details-hillary-clinton-s-capital-gains-tax-proposal.
6
Table 6.
Distributional Analysis for Hillary Clinton’s Tax Plan
Effect of Tax Reform on After Tax Income Compared to Current Law
All Returns by Decile
Static Distributional
Analysis
Dynamic Distributional
Analysis
0% to 10%
0.0%
-1.0%
10% to 20%
0.0%
-0.9%
20% to 30%
0.0%
-0.9%
30% to 40%
0.0%
-1.0%
40% to 50%
0.0%
-1.0%
50% to 60%
0.0%
-1.0%
60% to 70%
0.0%
-1.0%
70% to 80%
0.0%
-1.0%
80% to 90%
0.0%
-0.9%
90% to 100%
-0.7%
-1.7%
99% to 100%
-1.7%
-2.7%
TOTAL FOR ALL
-0.3%
-1.3%
Source: Tax Foundation Taxes and Growth Model, October 2015.
Conclusion
Hillary Clinton would enact a number of tax policies that would raise tax revenue over the
next decade in order to fund new or expanded programs. Most of her policies raise tax
revenue as designed, except for her capital gains policy, which would actually end up losing
revenue both on a static and a dynamic basis due to the incentives it creates to hold on to
assets longer. If enacted, her tax policies would impose slightly higher marginal tax rates on
capital and labor income, which would result in a reduction in the size of the U.S. economy
in the long run. This would decrease the revenue that the new tax policies would ultimately
collect. The plan would lead to lower after-tax incomes for taxpayers at all income levels, but
especially for taxpayers at the top.
7 Modeling Notes
The Taxes and Growth Model does not take into account the fiscal or economic effects of
interest on debt. It also does not require budgets to balance over the long term, nor does
it account for the potential macroeconomic or distributional effects of any changes to
government spending that may accompany the tax plan.
We modeled the revenue and economic impacts of the tax provisions outlined above except
for the taxation of carried interest at ordinary income tax rates,4 the new tax credit for profit
sharing, the new credit for caregiver expenses, the IRA limitation, and the new tax on high-
frequency trading. The omissions were due to either data limitations or insufficient details
from the candidate. We do not model any potential transitional costs associated with the
plan.
The proposal to alter the long-term capital gains schedule was modeled by taking into
account behavioral effects of shareholders, who react to the higher tax rates on mid-term
capital gains by delaying their realizations. We used an elasticity derived from research by
the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation.5 Consistent with the
Clinton campaign’s pledge not to raise taxes on households earning less than $250,000, we
assumed that the new schedule for long-term gains only would apply to the top marginal tax
rate of 20 percent.
We assumed that the 28 percent limitation on itemized deductions was consistent with the
policy proposed by President Obama, which would limit the tax value of itemized deductions
to 28 cents on the dollar.
We assumed that the reinsurance proposal was similar in content to legislation introduced by
Representative Richard Neal and Senator Bob Menendez.
4 This proposal would raise approximately $1.3 billion per year, according to other estimates. “Estimated Budget Effects Of The
Revenue Provisions Contained In The President’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Proposal.” Joint Committee on Taxation. https://www.jct.
gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4739.
5 Dowd, Tim, Robert McClelland, and Athiphat Muthitacharoen. “New Evidence on the Tax Elasticity of Capital Gains.” Joint Working
Paper of the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office. June 2012. https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/
files/112th-congress-2011-2012/workingpaper/43334-TaxElasticityCapGains_0.pdf.