Election 2016: Your money, your vote

Clinton, Trump … and your cash

A last-minute cheat sheet to where the candidates stand on taxes, child care costs, Social Security and more

By Jeanne Sahadi,Tal Yellin, Caroline Matthews

Use the icons below to select and compare

Income taxes Dependent care Health costs College Social Security

What they'll do to your tax bill

  • Clinton

    Raise taxes on the top 1% by:

    — Imposing the “Buffett Rule,” which requires those with adjusted gross incomes over $2 million to pay a minimum of 30% of their income in federal taxes.

    — Adding a 4% surcharge for those who make more than $5 million.

    — Increasing the rates investors pay in capital gains for investments held less than 6 years.

    — Increasing the estate tax rate to between 45% and 65%, depending on size of estate. And reducing to $3.5 million how much money is exempt from the estate tax.

    Low-and middle-income households would see a small tax cut on average.*

  • Trump

    Cut income taxes across the board by:

    — Lowering tax rates to 12%, 25% and 33%

    — Increasing the standard deduction

    — Repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, the estate tax and taxes related to Obamacare.

    — Reduce the top business rate from 35% to 15%.

    All income groups would see an average tax cut. But the wealthy would get the biggest and millions of middle-income families may see a tax increase because of Trump’s mix of proposed changes.*

Debt and economic impact

  • Clinton

    Would reduce debt by an estimated $5.4 trillion over 20 years.*

    Would lower growth initially then boost it, relative to current policies.

    • *Source: Tax Policy Center

  • Trump

    Would increase debt by more than $20 trillion over 20 years.*

    Would spur more growth in the first decade, but then slow growth in the second, relative to current policies.

    *Source: Tax Policy Center

Paid leave

  • Clinton

    Guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave for caregivers, for at least 2/3 of pay up to a cap.

  • Trump

    Guarantee 6 weeks of unemployment benefits for women whose employers don't offer paid maternity leave.

Child care costs

  • Clinton

    Limit child care costs to no more than 10% of a family's income in part by:

    — Doubling the $1,000 child tax credit when a child is under 5 years old.

    — Making the refundable portion of the child tax credit more generous for low-income families with kids under 17.

    — Providing universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds.




  • Trump

    Let working and stay-at-home parents write off the average cost of child care in their state based on a child's age.

    Offer the tax break to low-income working parents through their Earned Income Tax Credit if they don’t have income tax liability.

    Let families save up to $2,000/year in tax-advantaged accounts to pay for child care, private school tuition, after-school programs or elder care. Contributions would be deductible and grow tax free. Low-income families that can save $1,000 would get a $500 match.

Obamacare

  • Clinton

    Keep it, but make improvements including:

    — Lowering Obamacare premiums to 8.5% of income, down from 9.66% currently.

    — Giving a tax credit to those for whom out-of-pocket costs top 5% of their income. This also applies to anyone with employer-provided insurance.

    — Giving Americans on insurance exchanges the choice of a public option plan.

    — Giving consumers access to safe drugs from overseas.

    — Capping out-of-pocket costs for drugs.

  • Trump

    Repeal and replace it with a plan that includes:

    — Working with Congress to reduce the cost of health care and improve quality by way of "free-market principles."

    — Letting health insurers sell policies across state lines to spur competition.

    — Allowing people who buy health coverage outside of their jobs to deduct their premium costs.

    — Giving consumers access to safe drugs from overseas.

Medicare

  • Clinton

    Let Medicare negotiate drug prices. Allow people as young as 55 to buy into Medicare.

  • Trump

    Let Medicare negotiate drug prices.

Medicaid

  • Clinton

    Incentivize states to expand it.









  • Trump

    Give states a fixed amount of money (i.e., a block grant) instead of paying a share of cost per enrollee. Trump also says he doesn’t want to let those who can’t afford insurance slip through the cracks.

Affordability

  • Clinton

    Enable students from families earning less than $125,000 to pay nothing for tuition at in-state public colleges. Students at all income levels would get free tuition and fees at community colleges.

    Let low-income students at state schools use Pell Grants for living expenses. Make the grants year-round to cover summer school.

Student loans

  • Clinton

    Allow grads to refinance federal student loans at current rates. Forgive up to $17,500 in student loan debt for entrepreneurs working in distressed communities or on businesses that improve the social good.

  • Trump

    Cap student loan income-based repayment plans at 12.5% of a borrower’s income. Forgive remaining debt after 15 years of full payments. Currently they’re capped at 10% of discretionary monthly income and forgiven after 20 years.

Long-term plan to make program solvent

  • Clinton

    None. Generally supports raising taxes on the wealthy to help close the program's funding shortfalls.

    And apply the payroll tax to at least some income over $250,000 and to income not currently taxed (e.g., investment income) to pay for proposed program expansion.

  • Trump

    None. Asserts his other proposals and his tax cuts will create enough growth to help the program.

Benefits

  • Clinton

    Make benefits more generous for lower income widows and widowers to protect against poverty.

    Give Social Security credits for stints of unpaid caregiving.

By Jeanne Sahadi,Tal Yellin, Caroline Matthews
Published November 1, 2016

Proposals on Social Security and college

Proposals on taxes and child care costs