THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008
Seals Lays Out Own Tax Plan
By TOM ROBB
JOURNAL REPORTER
On the eve of tax day, Democratic Congressional candidate for the 10th Dist. Dan Seals held a town hall forum in Arlington Hts. to discuss his plan to simplify the tax code.
"Our tax code is arduous, unfair, and ineffective," Seals said. "Arduous because of the billions of hours spent on tax preparation, unfair because of the AMT's (Alternative Minimum Tax) toll on our middle class, and ineffective because of the tax loopholes and shelters that allow corporations to avoid paying taxes. The tax code I've outlined today is simple, fair, and effective. This is the kind of change we need on our tax code and it is the change that I will fight for as your congressman."
Seals' plan would reduce the number of tax brackets from six, as it is today, to three at 15%, 25%, and 35%. He said it would end "favoritism" toward those who itemize their taxes by increasing the standard deduction from $5,000 to $15,000 for individuals and $10,000 to $30,000 for married couples.
It would also offer a 10% tax credit to what Seals called "working and middle class families" for payments on state and local taxes. His campaign aids later said that 10% would be available to all taxpayers but was specifically aimed at taxpayers making under $120,000 to $150,000 a year.
Seals pledged to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
Incumbent Mark Kirk also opposes the AMT and opposes tax increases at the federal, state and county levels.
Kirk's campaign representatives did not address other specifics of Seals' plan but released a statement on Kirk's plans for taxes.
Eric Elk, a spokesman for Kirk's congressional campaign said, "Congressman Kirk has been fighting the 23 proposed tax increases at the federal, state, county and city levels. When the economy is experiencing a slowdown the last thing we need are tax increases. The congressman voted to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax and opposes all proposed federal tax increases."
The AMT became law in 1969 and was set up to tax the richest taxpayers some of who avoided paying any tax at all that year.
The AMT looks at tax liability versus income and will add additional tax if the tax liability is not high enough, in spite of any exemptions.
The AMT was not set up to keep pace with inflation so many middle class taxpayers are facing the tax. Taxpayers who made more than $66,114 per year were subject to the tax before a "patch" was passed in 2007, that bar has now been moved for some taxpayers to $80,000 per year.
The Congressional Budget Office (CMB) gave an example of who qualifies.
"Taxpayers with AGI (adjusted gross income) between $100,000 and $500,000 will be hit hardest by the AMT. In 2010, over 90 percent of them will have AMT liability," said a page on the CBM's website. Representatives for Kirk were contacted but did not have a response to Seals' plan prepared by press time.