WASHINGTON (AP) – Tax Day revealed major differences between Joe Biden and Donald Trump over how to govern: How much presidential candidates should reveal about their finances and tax policy have conflicting ideas about the best way to revitalize the economy through
Biden, the incumbent Democratic president, is scheduled to release his income tax returns on Monday, the IRS filing deadline. And on Tuesday, he will speak in Scranton, Pennsylvania, about why the wealthy should pay more in taxes to reduce the federal deficit and support financial programs for the poor and middle class.
Unlike Trump, who inherited hundreds of millions of dollars from his father and used his billionaire status to launch a television show and later become president, Biden spent most of his decades-long career in public service I'm proud that I had almost no money. motion.
“For 36 years, I've been listed as the poorest person in Congress,” Biden told donors in California in February. “no kidding.”
In 2015, Trump declared, “I'm really rich,” as part of his candidacy.
The former Republican president has argued that voters do not need to see his tax data and that disclosure of his past financial information is sufficient. He argued that keeping taxes low on the wealthy would spur investment and increase employment, but higher taxes would crush an economy still recovering from inflation, which hit a 40-year peak in 2022. are doing.
“Biden wants to give the Internal Revenue Service even more cash by proposing the largest tax increase in history, at a time when Americans are already being robbed by a record inflation crisis,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said. “I think so,” he said.
This division transcends ideological differences and poses a very real challenge regardless of who wins the November election. At the end of 2025, many of the tax cuts President Trump signed into law in 2017 will expire. With the national debt expected to rise to unprecedented levels, people of all income groups will have an avalanche of choices about how much they will have to pay.
Extending all tax cuts, including interest costs, could add an additional $3.8 trillion to the national debt by 2033, according to an analysis last year by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Biden wants to keep most of the tax cuts in line with his pledge that people making less than $400,000 a year won't have to pay any more. But this year, he announced a budget that would raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations by $4.9 trillion over 10 years and reduce the projected budget deficit by $3.2 trillion. was.
Still, he is appealing to voters in favor of allowing Trump-era tax cuts to expire.
“Does anyone think this tax law is fair? Raise your hand,” Biden said in a speech at Washington's Union Station on Tuesday.It helps much of the middle class, but unfairly favors the wealthier. He spoke to a crowd that tended to dislike President Trump's sweeping tax cuts.
“The national debt has increased more than any other presidential term in history,” Biden continued.
President Trump has called for higher tariffs on foreign goods, taxes that could hurt consumers in the form of higher prices. But while his campaign works to cut taxes, Trump's inauguration promises to reduce the national debt, which has been rising for decades, including during his time in the Oval Office.
“When President Trump returns to the White House, he will advocate for further tax cuts for all Americans and reinvigorate America's energy industry to curb inflation, lower the cost of living, and pay down the debt,” Levitt said. Stated.
Most economists argue that President Trump's tax cuts will not generate enough growth to pay down the national debt. An analysis published Friday by Oxford Economics found that “full-fledged Trump” policies such as tax cuts, higher tariffs and curbs on immigration would slow growth and increase inflation.
Biden's proposals also include a “billionaire minimum income tax” that would apply a minimum tax rate of 25% to households with net worth of $100 million or more.
The tax directly targets billionaires like Trump, who have traditionally refused to waive personal taxes. But six years of his tax returns were released in 2022 by Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee.
In 2018, Trump earned more than $24 million and paid about 4% of it in federal income taxes. The Congressional committee also found that the IRS delayed legally required audits of President Trump during his presidency, and the committee concluded that the audit process was “dormant at best.”
Biden released more than 20 years of tax returns. In 2022, he and his wife Jill earned $579,514 and paid nearly 24% of that in federal income taxes, more than double the rate paid by President Trump.
President Trump claims that his use of various tax credits and past business losses have complicated his tax records and, in some cases, allowed him to avoid paying taxes. He has previously refused to release his tax returns, saying the IRS was auditing his previous filings.
His finances recently received a boost from the stock market debut of Trump Media, which manages President Trump's preferred social media site Truth Social. The stock price initially soared, adding billions of dollars to Mr. Trump's net worth, but then investors turned away from the company, and by Friday, the stock had fallen more than 50% from its peak.
The former president is also seeking $542 million in damages from a legal verdict in a civil fraud case and a fine against author E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault and whose comments tarnished his reputation. I'm being chased.
In the civil fraud case, New York Judge Arthur Engoron examined the Trump Organization's financial records, looked at its bulging assets, and concluded that “the fraud discovered here transcends the paper and shocks the conscience.”
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Colvin reported from Palm Beach, Florida.
