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Kudlow: Will Romney Cap Tax Deductions at 17K?

Taxes
Tetra Images | Getty Images
Taxes

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is looking at reducing income tax deductions to a flat $17,000.

Romney presented the idea during an interview with a local television station in Denver.

CNBC's Larry Kudlow is troubled by the proposal, at least at first glance. “I don’t want middle class taxes to go up at all."

Kudlow's biggest concern is the mortgage deduction.

A $300,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 6 percent would end up with $18,000 a year in mortgage interest, writes The Hill, which also reported the Romney proposal.

"I have to see the details because I can't get behind this idea until I know middle class taxes will not go up, said Kudlow. (Limiting deductions theoretically increases taxes.)

Although Kudlow has stated emphatically that Romney must reveal specifics about his tax plan in order to win the election, he said: "I want Romney to red line all middle class deductions – leave them alone.”

Following is the comment that has generated so much stir as reported by the website The Hill.

Total Cost: $58,065Tuition: $43,840Room & Board: $13,980Fees: $245Claremont McKenna, located near downtown Los Angeles, accepted only 12.4 percent of its applicants for the class of 2016, a rate that admissions counselor Brandon Gonzalez said ensures that students here will be going to school only with other top students.�The class of 2016 will be one of the most talented groups of students we have ever seen,� The school will charge these students a tuition of $21,920 per semester, or $43,840 for the entire academic year, incurring a total cost of
Total Cost: $58,065Tuition: $43,840Room & Board: $13,980Fees: $245Claremont McKenna, located near downtown Los Angeles, accepted only 12.4 percent of its applicants for the class of 2016, a rate that admissions counselor Brandon Gonzalez said ensures that students here will be going to school only with other top students.�The class of 2016 will be one of the most talented groups of students we have ever seen,� The school will charge these students a tuition of $21,920 per semester, or $43,840 for the entire academic year, incurring a total cost of

"As an option you could say everybody's going to get up to a $17,000 deduction; and you could use your charitable deduction, your home mortgage deduction, or others — your healthcare deduction. And you can fill that bucket, if you will, that $17,000 bucket that way," Romney said in an interview with Denver's FOX31.

"And higher-income people might have a lower number."


Tune in:

"The Kudlow Report" airs weeknights at 7 p.m. ET.