Topline
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he supports the end of “double taxation” for Americans who live overseas, according to multiple outlets, marking his latest tax cut proposal in the leadup to the election.
Trump has made several no-tax proposals in recent months. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty … [+]
Key Facts
Trump said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal he supports “ending the double taxation of overseas Americans,” with the Journal noting such a change to the tax code could specifically unburden higher income Americans with investments who pay taxes for both the U.S. and the place they are residents of.
Individual Americans who live abroad do not have to pay taxes on the first $126,500 they earn, while joint filers who are married and meet other requirements can exclude up to $253,000 together, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Trump campaign officials offered no details about Trump’s support of ending double taxation, the Journal reported, adding that of the approximately 4.4 million U.S. citizens who lived abroad in 2022, about 2.8 million of them were eligible to vote in their former states.
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What To Watch For
Preliminary estimates from The Tax Foundation predict Trump’s tax policies, which also include reducing corporate income tax and extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, could reduce federal tax revenue by $6.1 trillion over the course of a 10-year budget window.
Key Background
Trump has made multiple proposals to completely cut federal taxes on income from Social Security, overtime and tipped wages. Tax cuts for Americans using Social Security could put pressure on the program that makes it unable to pay out full benefits by 2033, as the taxes attached to the program help pay for it, according to the Associated Press, which cited Brendan Duke of the liberal Center for American Progress. Trump targeted hospitality workers when he vowed in June to remove taxes from tipped income, telling supporters during a rally he would make the change “right away” if he is elected president. The former president then shifted his focus to nurses, construction workers and factory workers last month, pledging to “end all taxes on overtime” and framing the proposal as “so good” for employers. Trump has not provided many details for his no-tax proposals outside of announcing his intent to implement them while in office.
Tangent
Trump has made the promises as polling suggests he’s locked in an Electoral College dead heat with Vice President Kamala Harris—Harris leads Trump by two percentage points nationally, but Trump edges out Harris by 0.3 points on average across the seven major swing states, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling tracker.
