Flag of the People's Republic of China by SKopp is licensed under Public Domain.
Combined federal-state tax burden would average 48.4%, nearly twice as high as China‘s maximum business tax rate
A proposal to hike the top federal tax rate to 39.6% would saddle American small businesses with an average combined federal-state tax rate of 48.4%, much higher than communist China’s maximum business tax rate of 25%.
The proposed 39.6% rate plus the 3.8% Obamacare surtax plus the average state tax rate of 5% amounts to 48.4%.
It is no wonder 90 groups of pro-Trump main street employers — welders, machinists, metalworkers, roofers, contractors, etc. — firmly oppose this proposed tax rate increase.
In a letter to congress, they wrote: “As long-time Main Street champions, we encourage you to stand strong and oppose any effort to increase income tax rates, including recent proposals to raise the top individual rate to 40 percent.” AND: “As Congress continues its work on a pro-growth tax bill, we urge you to reject any effort to raise tax rates.”
Further conservative opposition:
Senator MIKE LEE: “No new taxes. No tax-rate hikes. Never.”
Senator TED CRUZ: “That would be a tax on every small business, every job creator. And you know what? That’s what Kamala Harris campaigned on.”
Senator BERNIE MORENO: “I totally disagree with that.”
RUTHLESS Host Josh Holmes: “If the GOP authors marginal tax rate increases on anyone they will get blown out in 2026. You will have two parties that believe the government is entitled to take at least half of an American’s stuff and repurpose it as they see fit.”
Trump ally LARRY KUDLOW: “This would be among the top three dumbest things I’ve ever heard.”
SEAN HANNITY: “I just think it is bad for the economy. It seems to go against everything Donald Trump has ever believed in.”
“I’ve been reading the same things you’ve been reading and frankly I just haven’t been believing it.”
“Pretty unbelievable to be honest.”
“What Republicans would go forward with a tax increase when they should be making the Trump tax cuts permanent, eliminating tax on tips, social security and overtime. Because that’s what the President promised. Why would they go in any other direction?”
House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON: Asked if he supports a tax rate increase, Johnson said: “I’m never for increasing taxes, ever.”
Speaker JOHNSON also said: “I mean we are the Republican party and we are for tax reduction for everyone.”
House Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE: Asked if he supports a tax rate increase, Scalise said: “No. No. No.”
House Majority Whip TOM EMMER: Asked if he supports a tax rate increase, Emmer said:“hahhahahahha no.”
Congresswoman ELISE STEFANIK: “We do not support raising taxes. The Republican Party stands for cutting taxes. President Trump supports cutting taxes; he has said that in rallies all across the country.”
CONGRESSWOMAN BETH VAN DUYNE (R-Texas): “I don’t support raising taxes. We do not have a revenue generating problem in the U.S. — we have a spending problem in the U.S.”
Congressman BUDDY CARTER (R-Ga.): “Look, we can do this without raising taxes on anyone.”
Congressman TIM MOORE (R-N.C.): “I do have some concerns though about this talk of adding additional tax increases. I don’t think that’s appropriate. I believe frankly that we have a spending problem and not a tax problem.”
SENATOR TED CRUZ: “I think it is a mistake to raise taxes, and I don’t believe Republicans are going to do that.”
SENATOR DAVID MCCORMICK (R-Pa.): “We’ve got to reel in the spending,” McCormick said. “That’s going to require some tough choices. But we can’t do that by raising taxes, which slows the economy and hurts working families.”
KUDLOW also said: “Small business pays the top income tax rate. So if these guilt-ridden Republicans in the White House and Capitol Hill — who think they are such political geniuses and really aren’t — if they think they are penalizing wealthy people, they might take a more careful look at the tax code and realize they would actually be punishing small businesses and wholly owned family enterprises. How stupid would that be? It would be plenty stupid.”
Trump ally NEWT GINGRICH on the idea of a tax rate increase: “That would be madness and would defeat the bill.”
GINGRICH also said: “Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans must remain vigilant against any effort by misguided members to raise tax rates in the final bill. This is historically important and could have huge political consequences.”
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM: “Americans for Tax Reform opposes any effort to increase income tax rates on individuals or businesses. President Trump ran on making all the tax rates reductions permanent. Kamala Harris ran on letting the top income tax rates reductions passed by Trump to spring back to the higher pre-Trump/Obama tax rate. All tax rate increases damage economic growth and kill jobs by disincentivizing work and investment.”
Americans for Tax Reform President GROVER NORQUIST: “President Trump is not going to allow the top rate for income taxes to be increased. That is a direct hit on small businesses.” “There was a letter that went to the hill from 90 trade associations that represent small businesses pointing out that Sub-chapter S corporations that pay through the individual rate would be badly hit. You read the list: This is a list of MAGA-supporting industries. The national roofing contractors, the precision metal formers, the association of builders and contractors, heating, air conditioning and refrigeration. These are the people who make America work. President Trump is not going to get talked into” a tax rate increase.
ART LAFFER: “That we are even talking about a tax rate increase on the top income earners is silly. Can you imagine that conversation appearing a month ago. It makes no sense whatsoever. Trump doesn’t want to raise the highest tax rates.”
DEROY MURDOCK: “Such a GOP-sponsored tax increase would be an excellent tool — provided that Republicans wish to splinter their ranks, sink President Donald J. Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill, slow the economy, and sandbag themselves in the 2026 midterm elections.”
KIM STRASSEL: “It’s a grave disservice to Mr. Trump politically and economically. For starters, Mr. Trump during last year’s campaign promised dozens of times some variation on ‘permanent income-tax cuts all across the board.’ It’s a feckless team that attempts to maneuver a president into a George H.W. Bush ‘read my lips’ moment. Mr. Trump won the election in no small part because voters believed he would do what he said.”
Independent Women’s Forum Chairman HEATHER HIGGINS:“We do not have a revenue problem, we have a serious spending problem. Any discussion of hiking tax rates is counterproductive to solving the real problem.”
Job Creators Network CEO ALFREDO ORTIZ: “Raising taxes on successful small business pass-throughs is a terrible idea, and it would threaten Trump’s Main Street resurgence. Republicans should take advantage of their Congressional majority to extend and expand the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for everyone, including the most successful small businesses and individuals.”
Senator JOHN KENNEDY (R-La.): “I’m not a big believer in envy taxes. I don’t believe in making tax policy on the basis of class warfare.”
House Ways and Means Chairman JASON SMITH: “The way you provide tax relief is, you cut tax rates.”
Heritage Foundation Visiting Senior Fellow and Trump ally STEVE MOORE: Noting that American small businesses would bear the burden of a tax rate hike, Moore said: “That would have an incredibly negative effect on the economy. Those are the job producers.” “These are the people who create the jobs in America — we are going to raise their taxes, Republicans are? Come on, guys, we do not raise tax rates.”
STEVE MOORE also said: “Raising the business or personal tax rates ensures a civil war on the right. Conservatives will then be routed in the midterm elections – and they would deserve it. So don’t go there. You’re playing right into the hands of Chuck Schumer and AOC.”
Heritage Foundation’s RICHARD STERN: “The Heritage Foundation believes in limited taxes, and we oppose efforts to raise federal tax rates to or beyond 40%. Congress needs to get its fiscal house in order, but it must do so by tightening its own belt, not by forcing American taxpayers to tighten theirs.” “A higher top tax rate would be counterproductive, discouraging hard work and entrepreneurship. Punishing those who provide for others and create jobs is a recipe for failure.”
Club for Growth Vice President of Government Affairs SCOTT PARKINSON: “Club for Growth does not believe a bill can pass the House of Representatives if the top rate is increased from 37% to the Obama-era rate, 39.6%.”
Club for Growth President DAVID MCINTOSH: “Keeping the top rate at 37% is a red-line and Club for Growth will issue a key-vote alert to Members of Congress opposed to any legislation that attempts to increase the top individual marginal tax rate by any amount.”
American Commitment President PHIL KERPEN: “Putting a hike in the top income tax rate into what everybody thought be the Trump tax CUT bill is absolute madness. Not only would it destroy the Republican brand, but it would risk collapsing the bill and letting taxes go up on everyone. And for what? It would raise little or no revenue. It’s a trap.“
BRENT GARDNER, Chief Government Affairs Officer at Americans for Prosperity: “Raising income taxes on any earner is wrong for America economically and suggestions Republicans will or should support tax increases after 4 years of Bidenomics shouldn’t be taken seriously. 90 percent of Americans believe now is a bad time to raise taxes. This is bad policy and bad politics. Republicans would be smart not to give it any more oxygen.”
Center for a Free Economy President RYAN ELLIS: Regarding the prospect of a tax rate hike passing a GOP congress: “Ain’t gonna happen. Any bill which has a top marginal personal income tax rate north of 37 percent would fail in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.”
NATIONAL REVIEW EDITORIAL: “If this is a trial balloon, it doesn’t even deserve to achieve enough altitude to get properly shot down.”
National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO JAY TIMMONS: “When you are talking about higher taxes on individuals — as some people are suggesting — what you are talking about is the 90% of members of the National Association of Manufacturers. We’ve got 14,000 members, who are small businesses. Who are family owned. That is what will get hit the worst: small businesses. And we don’t want to see that happen.”
RUTHLESS co-host JOSH HOLMES: On the notion of anyone in the GOP supporting a tax rate increase: “That’s not populism it’s an advancement of progressive left’s agenda.”
JOE PAGS: “Is there a push by Republicans to raise taxes on the top level people to sort of make the Left feel good? Don’t do anything to appease the Left. What you do is, you stick to your guns and you do what you said you would do and that is keep the taxes low and even lower them more if you can.”
LARS LARSON: “If you push the top federal rate to 40%, and then you say if you are self-employed, then add in 15% for Social Security and Medicare self-employment tax, that takes you to 55%.” “How many people are going to say that’s a fair rate of taxation?” “They are playing those games and trying to undermine the President.”
PATRICK BET-DAVID: “If they do touch increasing tax rates on business owners, they are not going to have a lot of happy people there if that were to take place.”
Fox Business Network host David Asman: “From 1981 to 1987, Reagan cut the highest tax rate from 70% to 28%. We ended up with 7 fat years…until George H Bush broke his pledge and RAISED rates. The economy tanked and Bush lost. Now some RINOs are suggesting Trump do the same. This could save Dems from self destruction.”
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In summary, raising the top tax rate to 39.6% is a Kamala Harris proposal. She lost the election to President Trump. No need to adopt her tax hike.
