WASHINGTON — Question:
Has Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, proposed a new tax rate of 25% for families making $75,000?
Answer:
This is false. Joe Biden has publicly stated that he wants to increase the corporate tax rate, and various other taxes on those making more than $400,000. However, he has stated he will not raise taxes on those making less than that amount.
Source:
Joe Biden, May 22 - CNBC Interview
The Tax Foundation - April 2020 Report
The Tax Policy Center - March 2020 Report
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget - July 2020 Report
Penn Wharton Budget Model from UPenn - March 2020 Report
Process:
With the 2020 election right around the corner, the Verify team is working to ensure the public has the facts when it comes to candidate policies.
Various posts have been spreading on social media, claiming that former Vice President Joe Biden plans on raising the tax rate on families making $75,000.
"Biden's tax rate on a family making $75,000 would go from 12 percent to 25 percent," the post reads. "Let that sink in all you riding with Biden supporters."
Biden has strongly denied this accusation. He made this statement in no uncertain terms on CNBC in May:
"Nobody making under $400,000 will have their taxes raised," he said. "Period. Bingo.”
The Verify team also tracked down four reports breaking down the anticipated results of Biden's tax policies. These reports were put together by bi-partisan think tanks and policy organizations. The reports were as follows:
- The Tax Foundation - April, 2020 Report
- The Tax Policy Center - March, 2020 Report
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget - July, 2020 Report
- Penn Wharton Budget Model from UPenn - March, 2020 Report
According to these four reports, the main highlights of Biden’s tax plan include the following:
- Increase the corporate tax rate to 28%
- For anyone making over $400,000 a year, a rollback of the 2018 tax cuts
- For anyone making over $400,000 a year, a 12.4% social security tax
The UPenn Report suggests that the bottom 90% of income earners would not pay more in taxes. Meanwhile, the reports from the remaining groups suggested that there could be an indirect tax increase, but by a marginal amount of less than one percent.
The Tax Policy Center estimated this to be around $260 more in taxes for those making $93,000.
For all these reasons, we can Verify that the viral post is false. While experts say there could be some indirect tax increases on families making $75,000, it would not be as drastic as this post suggests.