Here's How Each Presidential Candidate Will Impact Your Tax Bill
Now that most of the 2016 presidential candidates have released their proposed tax policies (we're looking at you, John Kasich) you may be wondering just exactly how your bank account would fare with Ted Cruz or Bernie Sanders in the White House. Two tax calculators in particular do a nice job of showing how everyday Americans will be impacted by each candidate's proposals.
All you need to do is plug your income, marital status, and whether or not you have children into this simple calculator, and it will show you how much more or less you would pay in taxes if Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders were elected. (According to Vox, which partnered with the Tax Policy Center to create the calculator, Kasich's tax plan was not substantive enough to analyze.)
Vox notes that the calculations will not be universally accurate—there are too many other factors, such as various deductions and penalties, that would over-complicate the tool. But it's still useful to gauge how you'd fare under a new administration.
An equally user-friendly calculator at International Business Times, also made in conjunction with the Tax Policy Center, tells you how much your take-home pay will change under each of the candidates (again, with the exception of Kasich). Simply input your annual salary and after-tax pay, and you'll see how much more or less you'd theoretically take home each pay period.
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The takeaway from both of the calculators is that most people will see cuts under a Cruz or Trump administration, with the richest Americans enjoying the biggest tax breaks, while the majority of Americans would see modest cuts. And as Money noted previously, most Americans would probably see no change if Clinton is elected (unless they're extremely rich), and everyone's tax bill would balloon if Sanders wins the White House (free college isn't actually free).
As Vox noted, the catch with plans to slash taxes for everyone is that they will result in trillions of dollars in lost revenue for the government, which is already grappling with a $16 trillion national debt. As Money has reported, the right-leaning Tax Foundation estimated Trump's plan would result in $10.4 trillion to $11.98 trillion in lost revenue over the next decade, while Cruz's would result in an estimated $8.6 trillion loss. On the flip side, under Sanders, those making $18.4 million would see an effective tax rate of 73.5%.