Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman described his plans for tax and regulatory reform during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire.
Huntsman, a former Utah governor and ambassador to China, favors overhauling the Tax Code by eliminating all tax credits and deductions, including popular items such as the mortgage interest deduction, while reducing tax rates to three brackets of 8, 14 and 23 percent.
“Rather than tinker around the edges of what is a broken system, I’m going to drop a plan on the front steps of the Capitol that says, ‘We need to clean house,’” Huntsman said, according to the
Huntsman also said he would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and reduce the top corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent.
Huntsman also wants to shift from a worldwide system of taxation to a territorial system. “We are one of the last countries taxing businesses on worldwide income and punishing businesses that bring money home,” said his
Huntsman also called for a tax holiday on the repatriation of corporate profits earned overseas, claiming it would make available between $400 billion and $600 billion that companies could use to make capital investments.
Huntsman also wants to eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends, claiming that would eliminate the “double taxation on investment.”
“These taxes amount to a double taxation on most individuals who choose to invest since they first had to earn that money and pay income tax on it,” said his plan. “Taxing these same dollars again when capital gains are realized serves to deter productive and much-needed investment in our economy.”
Huntsman also called for rolling back the regulatory reforms of the Obama administration, including repealing the health care reform law and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. He also called for streamlining the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for new biotech and health sciences products, and enacting comprehensive patent reform.
