Hillary Clinton has often said she wants the rich to pay their "fair share." Translation: More.
And the bevy of tax proposals she's put forth so far would certainly raise the tax burden of the country's highest earners, according to a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center.
But figuring out their taxes also would be made more cumbersome.
Unlike the tax proposals of Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Clinton's proposals would not overhaul the current tax code drastically.
But Clinton's plan also diverges notably from those of her Republican opponents, including Donald Trump, in another key way: It wouldn't explode the nation's debt. The Tax Policy Center estimates that the proposals she's put forth so far would reduce deficits in the first decade by $1.1 trillion U.S. and by another $2.1 trillion in the next decade.
The caveat: The Tax Policy Center analysis could not account for a yet-to-be-released Clinton proposal to cut taxes for low- and middle-income filers, which her campaign has said is forthcoming.
Here are some key highlights from her plan to date:
Clinton's plan would make the tax code even more progressive than it is today.
She would impose the so-called Buffett Rule, requiring those with adjusted gross incomes over $1 million to pay a minimum of 30% of their income in taxes.
On top of that, she would impose a 4% surcharge on adjusted gross income over $5 million U.S.
Clinton would also limit the value of certain deductions and exclusions to 28%. That would reduce the benefit of those tax breaks for anyone in tax brackets higher than 28%.
These measures individually and combined would make figuring one's tax liability harder. For instance, filers would need to compare their tax bill under both the regular code and the Alternative Minimum Tax to what they would owe under the Buffett Rule, and pay whichever is highest.
High-income investors subject to higher capital gains taxes
Capital gains are a big source of wealth for very high-income filers -- defined as those making more than $400,000 U.S.
Under today's tax code, they pay a 20% tax on realized gains from investments held more than a year. Clinton would preserve that rate, but only for investments held at least six years.
Under her plan, realized gains on investments held less than six years would be taxed on a sliding scale.
Investors would pay the ordinary income tax on investments held less than two years. Currently, that's only the case for investments held less than one year.
The top capital gains tax rate would then fall by about four percentage points each year thereafter until it reaches 20% in year six.
On top of the new capital gains tax rates, Clinton would preserve the current 3.8% in Medicare surtaxes that investors owe if their gains exceed a certain threshold.
