Romney University 104: What Romney’s tax plan means for Virginia

Today’s Romney University video from former Congressman Tom Perriello is What Romney’s tax plan means for Virginia. It is based our joint report with the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Though Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan repeatedly refuse to say which specific tax breaks they would eliminate or reduce, the Tax Policy Center calculates that these major tax benefits for middle-class families would have to be reduced by 58 percent to pay for his tax cut for the rich. That 58 percent cut does not even account for the fact that middle-class taxpayers would be forced to pay for the $1.1 trillion corporate tax cut also championed by the Republican ticket.  

Here is how this hidden part of the Romney-Ryan tax plan would affect low-income and middle-class families in Virginia:

• 4.3 million. The number of families in the state that rely on health insurance from their employer, which is currently not taxed.
• $1,200-2,000. The amount those middle-class families would pay in higher taxes if the exemption for employer health insurance is reduced by 58 percent.
• 1.1 million. The number of middle-class families in the state that file for the mortgage interest deduction on their federal taxes.
• $1,066. The average loss in mortgage interest deduction for middle-class families in the state if the deduction is cut by 58 percent.
• 1.4 million. The number of middle-class families in the state that deduct state and local taxes from their federal income taxes.
• $670. The amount on average that middle class families in the state will pay in higher taxes if the deduction for state and local taxes is cut by 58 percent.
• 610,000. The number of middle-class families in the state that benefit from the child tax credit.
• $580. The amount that families in the state will pay in higher taxes per child if the child tax credit is reduced by 58 percent.
• 171,000. The number of low-income and middle-class families in the state that claim the child care tax credit (in addition to the child tax credit detailed above).
• $318. The amount that families in the state will pay in higher taxes per child if the child care tax credit (in addition to the child tax credit detailed above) is reduced by 58 percent.
• 1.1 million. The number of low-income working families in the state that qualify for the earned income tax credit or the refundable portion of the child tax credit.
• $736. The tax increase for 275,000 of those families (with a total of almost 494,000 children) would pay on average if the improvements to those tax credits passed under President Obama are rolled back, as the Romney-Ryan plan proposes.
• 231,000. The number of middle-class Virginia families and students paying for college educations that use President Obama’s American Opportunity Tax Credit.
• $2,100. The average benefit these families and students receive from the American Opportunity Tax Credit. The Romney-Ryan tax plan would eliminate this credit, leaving families in the state with no credit or a less valuable tuition credit.

You can read the full report here.