The economy is a crucial issue in the highly-charged 2020 U.S. presidential elections. In a survey conducted by Pew Research Center in August, almost 80 percent of voters wanted to know how President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden will lead the U.S. economy and create jobs.

Currently, millions of Americans are unemployed, primarily due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also a major and pressing concern. Beating the pandemic is critical for the U.S. economy to grow. Indeed, voters are in a position in which they have to weigh all the issues that really matter to them.

More than 90 million Americans already voted and are still undecided and wondering which candidate has a better tax policy. Truth is, the two have widely diverging opinions/proposals on issues that would impact the personal finances of Americans.

Trump will cut taxes to boost take-home pay and keep jobs in America

While there are scarce details for his tax agenda, the Trump campaign listed President Trump's objectives for a second term to include proposing further cuts beyond those passed under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 in order to increase take-home pay and keep jobs in America.

The law, which was enacted in 2017, revamped the tax code for businesses and individuals. It roughly doubled the standard deduction and limited some itemized deductions (like one for state and local taxes), among other things.

Based on a report released by the Joint Committee on Taxation in 2019, on average, the law cut taxes for Americans across all income groups.

The richest Americans were the biggest beneficiaries of the 2017 tax law. A report from  CNBC noted that around 76 percent of the estimated $259 billion in taxpayers’ total savings in 2019 went to those making more than $100,000 a year.

However, the tax cuts for individuals are a short-term scheme. They are set to expire after 2025 and revert back to the previous law.

President Trump is also reportedly looking at offering” Made in America" tax credits, which seek to provide tax relief designed to build new jobs and small businesses in the country. He also seeks to expand opportunity zones, a tax incentive to reward those who invest in economically distressed areas.

Biden plans to increase taxes on the wealthy making over $400,000

The Biden campaign, on the other hand, said the Democratic presidential nominee will call for increases in both payroll taxes and income taxes on wealthy households exceeding $400,000.

Biden’s proposed tax plan would raise about $3.2 trillion in revenue over a decade, his campaign asserted.

In order to achieve this, Biden would raise to 28 percent the corporate tax rate, which his campaign said would produce $730 billion in tax revenue over a decade, and raise the top individual tax rate to 39.6 percent, its level before the 2017 Republican tax cuts became law, to generate $200 billion in revenue over a decade.

The Tax Policy Center said the top 20 percent, or those making about $160,000, would be the only group to see a tax hike in 2022. Their tax liability is seen to spike by 5 percent on that year.

Biden is also looking at ramping up the Child Tax Credit to assist families during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to "provide thousands of dollars of tax relief for middle-class households."

According to the Democratic presidential nominee, he would increase the CTC to $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under 6. If elected, he also vowed to make the CTC fully refundable and allow families to receive monthly payments if they choose.

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