Adding new taxes to Americans' 401(k) nest eggs would be a disaster for retirees, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says.
"It's not good for your nervous system to get too worked up over ‘proposals' in Washington," Huckabee, a two-time Republican presidential candidate, said Wednesday on his Facebook page.
"Trial balloons are a dime a dozen, and few become laws. But two balloons that deserve to get popped right away are these suggestions in Congress for new taxes on Americans' 401(k) accounts."
Huckabee says one of the proposals would raise up to $60 billion in tax revenues by 2025, while the other would raise about $1.5 trillion.
"Or to put that more accurately, one would suck up to $60 billion out of people's retirement savings, while the other would vacuum out $1.5 trillion," he said.
"Untouched by this would be the cushy pension program Congress members enjoy. Yes, Washington needs to get the deficit under control and start paying down debt.
"But looting many people's only hope for a secure retirement isn't the way to go about it."
A new report released this month by the Joint Committee on Taxation says the exclusion of contributions from taxpayers' earnings cost the government more than $90 billion in potential tax revenue last year.
One proposal making the rounds in Congress would treat 401(k) contributions the same way as Roth 401(k) contributions, removing the immediate tax benefits.
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