Governor John Kasich (R-Ohio) a candidate for the presidency of the United States, has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to the American people. The pledge is a written commitment to the American people to “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.”
“I commend Governor Kasich for signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to the hard working taxpayers of this country,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). “Governor Kasich understands that government should be reformed so that it takes and spends less of the taxpayers’ money, and will oppose tax increases that paper over and continue the failures of the past.”
Kasich is also a Taxpayer Protection Pledge signer in his current capacity as Governor.
On Oct. 15, Kasich released a comprehensive national tax reform plan. Norquist has praised the Kasich plan as “significantly pro-growth.” ATR notes the following highlights:
For families. The current seven bracket system is replaced by a three bracket system and a top rate of 28 percent (the same top rate after President Reagan’s 1986 Tax Reform Act). Tax deductions for charitable contributions and mortgage interest would be retained at current levels. The earned income tax credit is increased by 10 percent.
Capital gains and dividends rate cut. The capital gains and dividends tax is reduced from 23.8 percent today to 15 percent.
Death tax repealed. The 40 percent death tax is repealed entirely.
Business tax rates lowered. For corporations, the tax rate on profits is cut from 35 to 25 percent. For partnerships, S-corporations, sole proprietorships, and LLCs, the tax rate is cut from 39.6 percent to 28 percent. To make up for the slightly higher rate on flow-through firms, the research and development tax credit is doubled for smaller companies.
Full expensing. All business investments in plant and equipment will be deducted in full in the year of purchase. This will replace a long, multi-year deduction process in place today called “depreciation.” No longer will the tax code say that a pencil can be deducted in one year, but a computer will take five years.
Territoriality. The U.S. is one of the only countries in the developed world which seeks to tax income earned in the United States as well as income earned overseas by U.S. companies. The Kasich plan transitions our “worldwide” tax system to the more typical and common sense “territorial” plan. Only income earned in the United States will be taxed by the United States. In order to finance this transition, overseas deferred earnings will face a one-time tax at a low rate.
ATR has shared the Pledge with all candidates for federal office since 1986. In the 114th Congress, 49 U.S. Senators and 218 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed the Pledge. Pledge signers include Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan are also pledge signers. On the state level, 13 incumbent governors and approximately 1,000 incumbent state legislators are Pledge signers.
Though it is still early in the 2016 nominating process, most of the GOP candidates have already made a written commitment to the American people that they will oppose and veto any tax increase in the event they are elected to the White House. Along with Kasich, these candidates include Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Dr. Ben Carson, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and Jim Gilmore.