Highlights:
JD Vance embraced traditional Republican positions on taxes that advantaged the wealthiest while putting average Americans at a disadvantage.
JD Vance supported weaponizing the tax code.
JD Vance criticized Trump’s tax reform law before going on to support it.
JD Vance opposed Biden’s pick to lead the IRS.
Vance Defended Billionaires For Taxing Advantage Of Loopholes In The Tax Code. According to CNN, “VANCE: I think there's a real difference between people who take advantage of the unfair rules and the unfair rules themselves. And the sense that I've always gotten from Trump's core voters is that they're not so mad of the billionaires who are taking advantage of the rules. They're mad that the rules exist in the first place. LEMON: Yes. ZITO: Yes. VANCE: So, it's not we're mad at you because you're swearing money in Cayman offshore accounts. We're mad that it's legal to store that money in the first place.” [CNN, 1/19/17]
Vance Defended Mnuchin For Utilizing Tax Shelters And Loopholes To Avoid Paying Taxes. According to CNN, “‘J.D. VANCE, AUTHOR, ‘HILLBILLY ELEGY: A MEMOIR OF A FAMILY AND CULTURE IN CRISIS’: Yes, one of the things I noticed as I was watching Democrats question the treasury secretary nominee is that they seem to think that they had a political trump card in the fact that he was a rich guy who had taken advantage of some of these offshore accounts and other loopholes in the tax system and so forth. ROMANS: Right. VANCE: And it's always occurred to me that that's never been a very effective political selling point. BORGER: Right. VANCE: That what people are more concerned about is that these things exist in the first place, not that a few people actually take advantage of them. And I actually thought that where he talked about maybe we should sit down with Congress and get rid of some of these loopholes, make it harder for these offshore accounts to exist was a pretty effective selling point and frankly probably a pretty good policy (INAUDIBLE).’” [CNN, 1/19/17]
Vance Wrote That Taxing The Rich Was “A Painfully Inadequate Solution.” According to an op-ed by JD Hamel in FrumForum, “The other answer, of course, is to raise taxes on people now. That’s not a great idea, as economists from across the political spectrum argue that raising taxes in the midst of a recession is bad for growth, and growth is the one thing that can close the budget gap faster than entitlement reform. More importantly, increased revenue will only take us so far—with a projected deficit of well over $1 trillion next year, a return to pre-Bush era tax rates would fill, at best, about 10 percent of our current fiscal hole. I am not one of those conservatives who shudders at any mention of tax increases, but like every thoughtful American, I realize that soaking the rich is a painfully inadequate solution.” [FrumForum, Op-Ed - JD Hamel, 4/5/11]
Vance Eventually Signed The Norquist Tax Pledge To Oppose Any And All Tax Increases. According to the Washington Post, “He has also signed a pledge from Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, to oppose ‘any and all’ tax increases.” [Washington Post, 7/16/24]
VIDEO: Vance Said He Supported Higher Taxes For People Who Do Not Have Children. According to the Charlie Kirk Show via YouTube, “VANCE: I’ll go back to something I said earlier about we need to reward the things that we think are good and punish the things that we think are bad. So, you talk about tax policy. Let’s tax the things that are bad and not tax the things that are good. If you are making $100,000, $400,000 a year and you’ve got three kids, you should pay a different lower tax rate than if you are making the same amount of money and you don’t have any kids.” [Charlie Kirk Show via YouTube, 3/22/21]
April 2021: Vance Called For Raising Taxes On The “Anti-American Business Class.” According to Vance’s Twitter, “Raise their taxes and do whatever else is necessary to fight these goons. We can have an American Republic or a global oligarchy, and it’s time for choosing.” [Twitter, @JDVance1, 4/12/21]
Vance Proposed Hiking Taxes On University Endowments From 1.4% To 35%. According to Politico, “Vance has antagonized schools and flummoxed Democrats with his calls to dramatically increase a tax on big universities’ endowments. Calling it unfair that they’re only charged a 1.4 percent excise tax on their investment earnings, Vance has proposed hiking that to 35 percent.” [Politico, 7/15/24]
2018: Vance Criticized Republicans For Living In The 1980s With The Party’s Tax And Health Care Reform Policies. According to the Financial Times, “Vance is more scathing still when he discusses a broader Republican party that he sees as intellectually ossified. It cleared the way for Trump, he argues, by blindly pushing an agenda of Reaganesque trickle-down economics and engaging in misplaced military adventures in the years before the real estate developer’s brash arrival. ‘I wasn’t as critical of my party in 2016 as I was the person,’ he says. ‘But when I look at tax reform, when I look at healthcare reform, I see Trump as the least worrisome part of the Republican party’s problem, which is that we are basically living in the 1980s. We are constantly trying to resurrect domestic policies from the 1980s.’” [Financial Times, 2/2/18]
Vance Criticized Republicans For Cutting Taxes For The Wealthy And Cutting The Social Safety Net. According to Financial Times, “Such as? ‘Let’s cut taxes for the wealthy! Let’s cut the social safety net! . . . The fundamental thesis that underlined basic Republican policies in the early 1980s, which is right, is that you had an economy which was simultaneously stagnating and experiencing high inflation. I don’t think the primary problem facing the American economy right now is that. It is that the opportunities that are out there require an adjustment in skills, an adjustment in training . . . And if that’s the problem, I don’t necessarily see how unleashing tax cuts for the wealthy . . . ’ Vance trails off as our food arrives. The tacos are small enough that I immediately order another.” [Financial Times, 2/2/18]
2019: Vance Criticized The 2017 Tax Reform Law Saying, “It Wasn’t Terrible, But It Wasn’t Great.” According to the American Conservative via YouTube, “VANCE: When I think about the tax cut legislation, which was OK, it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. If I think about the health care legislation which I think was genuinely a moral and political disaster and I’m glad that it never passed.” [ American Conservative via YouTube, 6/5/19]
2024: Vance Said He Would Have Voted For The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act. According to Politico, “For instance, Vance is quietly critical of Trump’s signature legislative achievement, the 2017 tax bill, parts of which he views as regrettable vestiges of McConnell-style conservatism. When I asked him about it, Vance praised parts of the bill — including the elimination of the SALT deduction, which he called ‘massively redistributive toward the lower- and middle-income brackets’ — while criticizing other elements. […] Vance admitted that he would have voted for Trump’s tax bill if he had been in the Senate.” [Politico, 3/15/24]
Vance Was Expected To Support Trump’s Tax Cuts And Jobs Act As His Vice President. According to the Washington Post, “If Trump prevails in November, Vance is likely to go along with the GOP’s push to aggressively cut taxes again. Trump is promising to extend the parts of the 2017 tax law he signed that are set to expire next year, and Vance is expected to support that effort.” [Washington Post, 7/16/24]
2023: Vance Voted Against Confirming Daniel I. Werfel As The Commissioner Of The Internal Revenue Service. In March 2023, according to Congressional Quarterly, Vance voted against the “confirmation of President Joe Biden's nomination of Daniel I. Werfel to be Internal Revenue Service commissioner.” The vote was on confirmation. The Senate confirmed Werfel by a vote of 54 to 42. [Senate Vote 50, 3/9/23; Congressional Quarterly, 3/9/23; Congressional Actions, PN27]
2023: Vance Effectively Voted Against Confirming Daniel I. Werfel As The Commissioner Of The Internal Revenue Service. In March 2023, according to Congressional Quarterly, Vance voted against the “motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the nomination of Daniel I. Werfel to be Internal Revenue Service commissioner.” The vote was on a motion to invoke cloture. The Senate agreed to the motion by a vote of 51 to 44. [Senate Vote 48, 3/8/23; Congressional Quarterly, 3/8/23; Congressional Actions, PN27]
Werfel Committed To Not Use New IRS Funding To Increase Tax Audits For Households Making Under $400,000 And Pledged To Ensure High Earners Comply With Tax Laws. According to CNN, “Daniel Werfel, a former acting IRS commissioner, testified before the Senate Committee on Finance Wednesday morning. The full Senate, which is controlled narrowly by Democrats, is expected to later approve his nomination. But first, Werfel faced hard questions about how he will use the new money to revitalize the struggling tax agency and which taxpayers may face increased audit rates. Werfel committed to upholding Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s prior directive that the IRS will not use the new funding to increase audit rates, relative to historic levels, for households making less than $400,000 a year. ‘If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, the audit and compliance priorities will be focused on enhancing the IRS’ capabilities to ensure that America’s highest earners comply with applicable tax laws,” Werfel said at the hearing. ‘If poor people are more likely to be audited than the wealthy, that is something I think potentially degrades public trust and needs to be addressed within the tax system,’ he added.” [CNN, 2/15/23]