Tack on one more to Trump’s tax-cut pledges: No tax on overtime pay

Simone Del Rosario:

Add one more to Donald Trump’s tax cut pledges.

At a rally in Tucson, the former president said he would eliminate tax on overtime pay.

Donald Trump:

“The people who work overtime are among the hardest-working citizens in our country, and for too long, no one in Washington has been looking out for them. Those are the people that really work. They’re police officers, nurses, factory workers, construction workers, truck drivers and machine operators.”

Simone Del Rosario:

No tax on overtime joins his proposals for no taxes on tips, an idea his opponent supports, and no tax on social security benefits.

Donald Trump:
It’s time for the working man and woman to finally catch a break and that’s what we’re doing.

Simone Del Rosario:

A Harris campaign spokesperson says Trump “is desperate and scrambling and saying whatever it takes to try to trick people into voting for him.”

Kamala Harris:
As President, we will always remember Donald Trump blocked overtime benefits from millions of workers.

Simone Del Rosario:

What’s she talking about there?

For a long time, the threshold where people could be exempt from overtime pay was pretty low, $23,660.

Under former President Barack Obama, the Labor Department proposed raising it to $47,476, which would have made millions more workers eligible for overtime pay.

When Trump took office, he changed it to $35,568. An improvement, but not as high as Democrats wanted.

Under President Joe Biden, this year they raised the overtime threshold to $43,888 and starting January 1, it goes to $58,656, meaning anyone making less than that must make overtime pay after 40 hours of work.

It’s hard to know how much the government makes from taxes on overtime pay, but here’s the price tag on some of Trump’s other proposals.

Extending the Trump tax cuts for the next 10 years would add $4.6 trillion to the national deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Ending taxes on social security benefits would add another $1.6 trillion to $1.8 trillion through 2035, according to the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

And no taxes on tips would reduce federal revenues by $150 to $250 billion over 10 years, CRFB estimates.

Trump has previously said his tariffs would pay for his tax cuts. CRFB has estimated that a 10% across-the-board tariff would raise $2.5 trillion over 10 years, while a 60% tariff on Chinese goods would, on its face, generate $2.4 trillion, but over time, would produce far less revenue or even lose revenue once trade behavior changes due to the massive penalties of trade with China.

When independent analysts put price tags on campaign promises, we bring that information straight to you. Download the Straight Arrow News app and enable notifications so you get these types of stories that help inform your vote.