SALT LAKE CITY — During last week's presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican opponent Mitt Romney, the issue of taxes were discussed in length, with President Obama contending that Romney would raise taxes for middle income families or increase the federal deficit.

On Tuesday, the Obama campaign released an email to supporters again attacking Romney's tax plan, citing studies by Harvard economist Martin Feldstein and Princeton economist Harvey Rosen. The email contends that "both concede that paying for Romney's tax cuts would require large tax increases on families making between $100,000 and $200,000."

However, Rosen told conservative magazine The Weekly Standard the Obama campaign has not interpreted his study correctly.

"I can't tell exactly how the Obama campaign reached that characterization of my work," Rosen writes. "It might be that they assume that Governor Romney wants to keep the taxes from the Affordable Care Act in place, despite the fact that the Governor has called for its complete repeal.

"The main conclusion of my study is that under plausible assumptions, a proposal along the lines suggested by Governor Romney can both be revenue neutral and keep the net tax burden on taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 about the same," Rosen continues. "That is, an increase in the tax burden on lower and middle income individuals is not required in order to make the overall plan revenue neutral."

The Romney plan calls for a reduction in all marginal tax rates by 20 percent, a repeal of the alternative minimum tax, a maximum tax rate of 15 percent for dividends and capital gains and broadening the tax base by eliminating unspecified tax preferences. Romney says his tax plan can be successfully accomplished without raising taxes for families of low and moderate incomes.

Because Romney has not released specifics on the preferences he would eliminate or scale back, several studies have conflicting results. The Tax Policy Center said Romney's plan is not plausible, saying high-income taxpayers would receive a cut, while taxes on middle income families would be increased.

Related:

Biden: Romney changed his position on tax cut

Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged Thursday that he and President Barack Obama want to raise $1 trillion in taxes on the wealthy as part of a plan to let some Bush-era tax cuts expire, giving Republicans fresh fodder to criticize the Democratic ticket just days after the vice president said the middle class has been buried during the past four years.

"Because Gov. Romney has not specified how he would increase the tax base, it is impossible to determine how the plan would affect federal tax revenues or the distribution of the tax burden," the Tax Policy Center said. "TPC has analyzed instead the effects of the specified proposals in the Romney plan. These estimates provide a guide as to how much the base broadening would need to raise taxes in different income groups to achieve the plan's targets."

But Rosen says "something seems to be missing" in the several studies conducted. "Relatively little has been said about the possible effects of the Romney proposal on economic growth," he contends.

"The main conclusion is that under plausible assumptions, a proposal along the lines suggested by Governor Romney can both be revenue neutral and keep the net tax burden on high-income individuals about the same," Rosen's report says. "That is, an increase in the tax burden on lower and middle income individuals is not required in order to make the overall plan revenue neutral."

Until Romney specifies the preferences he would eliminate or scale back, several studies will continue to assert different results. The Obama campaign has not responded to Rosen's comments.

Related topics