Fact check: Project 2025, not Trump, has proposed raising taxes for people who make under $100,000
Money and the economy has had a starring role in the runup to the 2024 presidential election.
Both former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, have argued that their economic plan would put more money in Americans’ pockets and that their opponent’s plan would do the opposite.
Regardless of party, it resonates with voters, including in purple Wisconsin: the most recent Marquette University Law School poll showed that the largest percentage of registered voters surveyed — 41% — rated the economy as a top issue.
And as always, taxes are a part of that discussion.
The Wisco Project, a liberal group focused on turning out college-aged voters in Wisconsin, is taking on Trump’s tax plans in ads running on Snapchat.
“If you make less than $100,000, Trump is about to raise your taxes,” the ad says. “Currently, you’re taxed at 10% and then 12%. He would raise that to a flat rate of 15%.”
Is Trump planning to raise taxes for people making less than $100,000 if re-elected?
Let’s take a look.
Changes to tax brackets are a Project 2025 idea
When asked for evidence to support the group’s claim, a Wisco Project spokesperson pointed to Project 2025, a presidential transition plan created by several conservative policy organizations and led by the Heritage Foundation.
Trump has attempted to distance himself from the document, and Harris has sought to tie him to it. Some of Trump’s past administration officials are involved in the project, and there is some overlap between Trump’s platform and Project 2025’s proposals, but he has no direct involvement and it is not a campaign policy proposal. USA TODAY has rated False a claim that the document is a plan from Trump.
So how are people who make under $100,000 currently taxed, and how would the proposals under Project 2025 change that?
For the current tax year under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, income up to $11,600 is taxed at 10%, and income between $11,601 and $47,150 is taxed at 12%. Income between $47,151 and $100,525 is taxed at 22%.
The Project 2025 plan calls for creating just two income tax brackets: One at 15% and one at 30%, and eliminating most deductions, credits and exclusions. The program says the 30% tax rate should start “at or near the Social Security wage base,” which is around $168,600.
While the Project 2025 plan doesn’t specifically recommend eliminating the standard deduction, if it were done away with along with most other tax credits, then people making up to $100,000 would end up paying a higher effective tax rate on their whole income, while people on the higher end of the first bracket would be paying lower taxes.
But that’s under a tax plan Trump has not proposed or endorsed.
Trump has made statements and taken policy positions on taxes that are different from Project 2025’s proposals. He says he would extend the provisions of the 2017 tax law, which are set to expire in 2025. The 2024 Republican Party platform calls for making the 2017 tax law permanent. The platform also calls for removing taxes on tips and Social Security income.
If Trump is elected and he successfully keeps the existing tax brackets in place, people making less than $100,000 will not see their income taxes increase to 15%, because the tax brackets will remain the same as they are today.
It’s worth noting that Trump has regularly repeated false claims during his presidential run, making it difficult for some to take him at his word. The Wisco Project pointed this out in its statement, writing, “We believe his record of spreading constant lies and mis-information on a near daily basis gives him no credibility for the public to believe his denials regarding Project 2025.”
Still, since Trump has never indicated that he plans to enact the tax policy changes that Project 2025 proposes, there’s no currently available evidence that he would pursue it.
Our ruling
The Wisco Project ad claimed that for Americans making under $100,000, “Trump is about to raise your taxes” to a flat rate of 15%.
This idea comes from Project 2025, a conservative presidential transition plan that Democrats have sought to tie to Trump.
But right now, there’s no concrete evidence that Trump supports this specific tax plan.
We rate this claim False.
Sources
Marquette University Law School poll, Sept. 11, 2024
PolitiFact, “How accurate are warnings by Democrats, Kamala Harris about Donald Trump’s ‘Project 2025 agenda?’” Aug. 20, 2024
USA TODAY, “Project 2025 is an effort by the Heritage Foundation, not Donald Trump | Fact check,” July 10, 2024
Tax Policy Center, “How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act change personal taxes?” accessed Sept. 18, 2024
Reuters, “How Harris' and Trump's tax and spending plans affect US debt,” Sept. 10, 2024
2024 Republican Party platform, accessed Sept. 18, 2024
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Project 2025, not Trump, has proposed raising taxes for people who make under $100,000