Here’s How Much You’ll Feel the Bern With Sanders’ Tax Plan

Democratic presidential candidate and self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders pledged to raise taxes at a CNN Democratic town hall this week, mere days before the Iowa caucus, where Sanders is neck-and-neck with rival Hillary Clinton.

But just how much more does Sanders intend to burden Americans with?

According to analysis by The Tax Foundation, an independent organization dedicated to tax policy research, Sanders’ plan would,

… increase marginal tax rates on all taxpayers, through higher individual income tax rates and two new payroll taxes. The plan includes several provisions aimed at high-income households: it would raise the top marginal income tax rate to 54.2 percent, tax capital gains and dividends as ordinary income, replace the alternative minimum tax with a new limit on itemized deductions, and expand the estate tax. In addition, the plan would create a new financial transactions tax and move the U.S. toward a worldwide tax system by ending the deferral of foreign-source business income.

Our analysis finds that the plan would increase federal revenues by $13.6 trillion over the next decade. The plan would also increase marginal tax rates on both labor and capital. As a result, the plan would reduce the size of gross domestic product (GDP) by 9.5 percent over the long term. This decrease in GDP would translate into an 18.6 percent smaller capital stock and 6.0 million fewer full-time equivalent jobs. After accounting for the economic effects of the tax changes, the plan would end up increasing federal tax revenues by $9.8 trillion over the next decade.

In addition, Sanders’ plan for single-payer healthcare includes a new 2.2% income-based “health care premium” tax and a 6.2% payroll tax, paid for by employers.

The Tax Foundation concludes their analysis by reviewing the overall economic impact Sanders’ plan would have on the economy, noting,

Senator Bernie Sanders would enact a number of tax policies that would raise tax revenue over the next decade. Together, his proposals would significantly expand federal revenue collections by $13.6 trillion on a static basis, driven mostly by broad-based taxes on income and payroll. If enacted, the Sanders plan would significantly increase marginal tax rates on capital and labor income, which would result in a substantial reduction of the size of the U.S. economy in the long run. This would decrease the revenue that the new tax policies would ultimately collect to $9.8 trillion. Senator Sanders’s plan would decrease after-tax incomes for taxpayers at all income levels, but especially high-income taxpayers.

Feel the Bern, folks.

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