Working Families Tax Cut

As president, Tom will build a people-powered economy that harnesses American innovation and ingenuity, delivering immediate relief to taxpayers and investing in working people while making sure the wealthy pay their fair share.
WATCH: Economic Fairness

For the last 40 years, Republican policies have shifted the majority of this country’s wealth away from working families and pushed it up to the rich. The GOP agenda of cutting taxes for corporations and the super-wealthy — continued by Donald Trump — has left us with historic levels of inequality. The richest 1% now hold 32% of American wealth. Meanwhile, 40% of Americans would have trouble meeting an unexpected $400 expense.

This is a sustained, calculated attack on the American worker. An economy that forces millions of people to work multiple jobs — who still struggle to save or afford health care — is an economy that’s broken. Despite this, Trump will continue to campaign on his economic strength, and in order to beat him in November, Democrats need a nominee who can expose him as a complete failure. Tom grew his small investment firm into a multibillion-dollar business and has the experience needed to go toe-to-toe with Trump on the economy.

As president, Tom will build a people-powered economy that harnesses American innovation and ingenuity. A Steyer administration will revitalize the middle class by providing tax relief to working families, making strategic investments for sustained growth, creating millions of new jobs, and opening the doors of economic opportunity once again.

“I will end the capital gains giveaway and give a 10% break to low and middle-income families.”
─ Tom Steyer

Give working families a 10% tax cut

Working families making less than $250,000 per year — and individuals making less than $200,000 per year — will receive a 10% cut to their current tax rate funded by ending tax give-aways to the wealthy. It will benefit 95% of Americans, help stem widespread wealth inequality in this country and make the tax code fairer and more progressive.

Put cash back in the pockets of working families

Millions of low and middle-income families rely on tax credits to pay for the necessities, from hospital bills to car repairs. As president, Tom will fight to put more of the money people earn into their own hands with the Working Families Tax Relief Act. This will increase both the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. This legislation makes the $2,000 tax credit per child fully refundable and provides an additional $1,000 credit for children under the age of 6. As an example, a single mother with two children making $30,000 a year would save an estimated $2,500 under Tom’s plan.

Expanding these tax credits will raise the incomes of 46 million American households with and without children, lifting 7 million people out of poverty, truly expanding the middle class, and putting money back into the bank accounts of working Americans.

Create good-paying, long-term jobs

Tom knows that we can solve the climate crisis and grow our economy as we end our dependence on fossil fuels and transition into a sustainable, clean energy future. He will invest $2 trillion in public infrastructure improvements and $250 billion in direct bonds for community-driven climate efforts, helping to create 4.6 million good-paying jobs across the country. He will expand worker resources, training, pre-apprenticeships, and continuing education to produce a highly-skilled, educated workforce for the 21st century.

Support unions

Organized labor has been Tom’s first and best partner in every campaign against corporate greed he’s been involved in. As president, he will put workers first by strengthening labor unions and building worker power. A Steyer administration will defend pensions, social security and disability benefits, guarantee all Americans have the right to a living wage and enforce labor laws around equal pay and wage theft.

End capital gains and dividend giveaways 

It’s not right that those who work for a living pay more in taxes than those who make money off of passive investment. This is why Tom will fight to make sure that investment income from capital gains and dividends, exclusive of qualified retirement accounts, is taxed at the same rate as income earned from a job.

Eliminate tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy

To pay for these necessary changes, Tom will stop giving tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy. It’s time they paid their fair share. As president, Tom will implement a wealth tax on the top 0.1% to generate significant additional revenue that can be used to invest in the American people and strengthen our economy. Tom will also roll back the Trump tax cuts on wealthy families and corporations to Obama-era levels. That means the tax rate for the top 1% of American households — for individuals making more than $418,000 and married couples making more than $470,000 — will return to 39.6%. The corporate tax rate will be restored to 35%.