Don't Mess With Taxes

With the 2024 presidential convention season underway and election day nearing, Project 2025 has been betting a lot of attention.

Donald Trump and his campaign staff have distanced themselves from it. GOP-VP nominee J.D. Vance has close ties to a key group promoting it. Some members of 45's first administration helped write it.

But what exactly is Project 2025?

The short answer, per its website, is that Project 2025 is a presidential transition project that will  "pave the way for an effective conservative Administration." The a 900-plus-page hard-right policy document spells out how it would do that.

The conservative Heritage Foundation is helming the project, but says Project 2025 involves a broad coalition of conservative organizations. Their united goal: "With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government."

Among the right-wing plans are the dismantling the Education Department, imposing national limits on abortion, giving the White House greater influence over the Justice Department, reducing efforts to limit climate change, drastically reducing and changing the federal workforce, and passing sweeping tax cuts.

And that's just a part. To get a look at all that's in Project 2025, peruse its 922 PDF pages.

Taxes and Project 2025: Tax references, of course, are sprinkled throughout. Below are some excerpts:

   It’s time for policymakers to elevate family authority, formation, and cohesion as their top priority and even use government power, including through the tax code, to restore the American family.

   The next Administration must act decisively to curtail activities that fall outside of Treasury’s mandate and primary mission. Treasury must refocus on its core mission of promoting economic growth, prosperity, and economic stability.

   The Treasury Department should develop and promote tax reform legislation that will promote prosperity. To accomplish this, tax reform should improve incentives to work, save, and invest. This, in turn, is accomplished primarily by reducing marginal tax rates, reducing the cost of capital, and broadening the tax base to eliminate tax-induced economic distortions by eliminating special-interest tax credits, deductions, and exclusions.

   Tax compliance costs will decline precipitously if the tax system is substantially simplified.

   The Treasury Department should also promote tax competition rather than supporting an international tax cartel.

Project 2025 tax details can be found in Chapter 22, Department of the Treasury, which starts on page 724.

Shouting out, at, or down: The official document is this weekend's first Saturday Shout Out. If you prefer to get more of an overview, here are some more Project 2025 shout outs.

“Project 2025 Tax Overhaul Blueprint: What You Need to Know,” from Kiplinger.

“Project 2025 would overhaul the U.S. tax system. Here's how it could impact you,” from CBS News MoneyWatch. 

“How Project 2025 could impact your tax bracket and capital gains under a second Trump term,” from CNBC. 

“Project 2025 Wants To Radically Change US Tax Policy: Would You Pay More Or Less In Taxes?” from Yahoo! Finance.   

“Project 2025: The myths and the facts,” from Vox. 

“The conservative think tank behind the controversial Project 2025 faces Trump's ire,” from NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. 

And from the opposition side, “What Is the Project 2025 Agenda?” 

Yeah, I know it’s a lot. But deciding which candidate and/or party you want running the country takes some work.

And you don’t have to do all your tax/voting research this weekend. We’ve still got time until Nov. 5.

You also might find these items of interest:

• A look at taxes without the Chevron doctrine
• The Presidential Election Campaign Fund: useful or useless?
• House GOP Tax Teams seek public input on expiring tax reform provisions

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