Donald Trump’s tax reform was the main legislative achievement of his first term. It made the tax code more efficient by reducing marginal rates and eliminating sundry carve-outs. This spurred faster economic growth and rising wages, which are why most Americans give him higher marks than Kamala Harris on the economy. So why is he now proposing to diminish that success by mangling the code?
The former President is still on net better on taxes than Ms. Harris, who supports $5 trillion in increases, including a 28% corporate rate, 44.6% top marginal rate and 25% tax on unrealized capital gains for “billionaires.” But Mr. Trump is losing the tax plot by promising all sorts of costly tax giveaways that will make it hard and maybe impossible to extend the pro-growth components of his reform.
