The Tax Lady Roni Deutch was once again a special guest on FOX Business Channel’s Money for Breakfast earlier this week. The topic she discussed was McCain’s vs. Obama’s Tax Plans, in which she compared the candidates’ tax views to their federal tax returns.
Roni Deutch made an appearance on FOX Business’s Money for Breakfast, analyzing the tax views of presidential hopefuls Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.
Ms. Deutch was interviewed by hostess Alexis Glick, who later commented on the interview on her own blog. During the interview, Ms. Glick questioned Ms. Deutch on both candidates’ tax platforms and their federal tax returns.
“I know that both candidates are smart men,” claimed Ms. Deutch. “They each want to stimulate the economy but their views on how to do so are polar opposites. McCain says let’s not raise taxes, let’s make sure we apply taxes in a different manner. While Obama says we’ve got to raise taxes for the wealthy, and lower them for lower to middle income individuals, and of course seniors. So there are two very different approaches on how to get this economy going again.”
When asked about the McCains’ recent federal tax returns, Ms. Deutch explained, “their married but they file separately. In 2006, McCain made $338,000, but Cindy made over $6 million. We are looking at a combined income of approximately $6.3 million and you look at their tax liability. They paid over $1.8 million in taxes and where were they taxed? Capital gains, interest and dividend income, and a little in alternative minimum tax. Then we look at how consistent he is with his tax returns and his tax platforms.”
On comparing the tax returns of the McCains to the Obamas, Ms. Deutch continued, “We are talking about polar opposites. They (Obamas) file jointly and their combined income was approximately $1 million. They paid about $277,000, which is a pretty fair tax liability, but when you look at their tax returns what fascinates me as a tax attorney is that they did not pay any capital gains taxes.
“The AMT is a disaster tax,” exclaimed Ms. Deutch in response to being asked about the candidates views on the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). She then explained, “It was designed to tax the wealthy that escaped paying taxes through loopholes. But today it is not actually doing that. Cindy McCain made over $6 million and paid nothing in AMT, the Obamas made a million dollars and paid nothing in AMT, but John McCain paid a little bit in AMT. So both candidates want to do something about this horrible tax. Obama wants to reform it whereas McCain wants to repeal it.”
“The McCains paid $1.8 million in taxes and a great deal of that was in capital gains taxes and interest and dividend income,” Deutch continued. “So when we look at John McCain’s tax policies it’s no surprise that he wants to keep that capital gains tax at 15%. Whereas Obama, on the other hand, he wants to raise that tax rate to 28% and raise taxes on interest and dividend income to 35%. But guess what, they paid none of that on their tax return. They paid no capital gains and actually had a capital loss.”
Ms. Deutch has consistently blogged on the tax views of the presidential candidates throughout the election process. Some of the more popular entries include Sen. Barack Obama: a Deeper Look at his Tax Views, Sen. John McCain: a Deeper Look at his Tax Views, and Obama & McCain: Tax Views of the Next President. Ms. Deutch strongly encourages everyone in this country to research the candidate’s economic and tax views before heading into the voting booth this November.
Millions of people recognize tax attorney Roni Deutch as The Tax Lady. She has been helping taxpayers nationwide resolve their tax liabilities for seventeen years. As an industry leader, she has saved her clients tens of millions of dollars and has helped thousands of families settle their back taxes. In 2006, Ms. Deutch launched the Roni Deutch Tax Center® to provide quality income tax preparation services to help taxpayers avoid back taxes in the first place.
