How the New GOP Tax Proposal Compares to Reagan's
If you've been reading up on Republicans lawmakers' just-released tax bill, and if you were around to follow the news back in 1986, then you may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu. That's because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act evokes the 1986 tax reform spearheaded by former President Reagan, prompting many comparisons between the two.
Yet while the proposals share certain characteristics, they're two very different beasts.
Complexities in the tax code have historically led to errors and fraud, so the brand-new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act seeks to simplify matters, as did the Tax Reform Act of 1986. But whereas Reagan's plan effectively reduced the number of individual income tax brackets from a whopping 14 down to just two, the GOP's plan is less extreme in this regard. We no longer have 14 distinct tax brackets at play, but rather just seven, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act narrows them down to four, not two.
Source: Fool.com
