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- The Washington Post reported President Donald Trump will likely save millions under the Republicans’ new tax plan.
- Trump previously claimed the tax reform bill will hurt him, according to CNN.
- Polls have indicated the bill is widely unpopular with voters.
US President Donald Trump claimed to be a “big loser” under the Republicans’ new tax reform plan.
But experts told The Washington Post it’s more likely that he’s going to win so much, he’s going to get sick and tired of winning. In fact, they estimate Trump stands to save millions of dollars under the new plan.
Of course, it’s impossible to say with certainty how much of a tax break Trump will personally get. The president broke with decades of political precedent by refusing to release his tax returns. The Trump administration says it is because of an audit, a claim disputed by tax experts.
The lack of clarity has sparked speculation that Republicans’ tax reform efforts — which have proved deeply unpopular with the public — will benefit the president’s own finances.
Here’s a look at how the president might benefit from the tax overhaul:
The Republican plan decreases the country’s top tax bracket
The plan contains some choice goodies for the country’s wealthiest citizens.
The top individual tax bracket will slip from 39.6% to 37%. People earning $ 10 million annually would save $ 361,435 in taxes, Business Insider’s Elena Holodny previously reported.
This change will almost certainly help Trump. Business Insider previously looked through the president’s 98-page executive branch personnel public financial disclosure report and found the president earned anywhere from $ 597 million to $ 670 million from January 2016 through Spring 2017.
The plan includes a major perk for pass-through business owners
Business Insider’s Bob Bryan reported the finalized plan contains a 20% deduction for pass-through businesses — entities that don’t pay taxes, but instead “pass through” income to owners. The owners then pay taxes on the income earned from their business.
Trump himself likely stands to win big, thanks to this provision. “A large chunk of Trump’s income is made though a series of LLCs and other pass-through entities that control his various properties,” Bryan reported.
In fact, The Washington Post reported “the bulk of his income will probably see an immediate tax break.”
The act slashes the estate tax
The wealthiest people in the nation won big when it comes to the bill’s new estate tax provision. The Washington Post reported that a married couple can now pass down “$ 22 million in assets without having to pay the tax.”
Business Insider’s Pedro Nicolaci da Costa argues the estate tax “does not hurt small-business owners in any discernible way,” and only affects a tiny sliver of uber-wealthy Americans. This small coterie likely includes the president, who Forbes estimated was worth $ 3.1 billion, as of September 2017.
