(Bloomberg News) The detailed tax plans from Republican presidential candidates would provide tax cuts for the highest earners with those from Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman offering the biggest benefits. Mitt Romney's proposal, which suggests fewer changes, would benefit middle-and lower-income families more than his rivals' would.

On the surface, the 9-9-9 tax plan of Herman Cain would lead to the biggest tax cuts at the top of the income scale and the largest tax increases at the bottom. Analyzing the Cain plan is difficult because he also eliminates the payroll tax and imposes a 9 percent business tax and a 9 percent national sales tax that each tax consumption rather than income.

For families between the extremes, the differences separating the candidates' tax positions are less dramatic and depend more on the circumstances of individual households. For example, Perry's flat 20 percent tax could mean higher taxes for upper-income families who would pay a marginal rate of 14 percent under Huntsman, though the Texas governor would continue the mortgage interest deduction.

"These plans won't just affect the rich," said Kathy Pickering, executive director of the Tax Institute, the research and analysis arm of H&R Block Inc.. "They're going to have a direct effect on the bottom lines of every American."

Four Families

The findings stem from an analysis of the candidates' plans conducted by The Tax Institute, based on scenarios affecting four families at multiple income levels suggested by Bloomberg News. It examined the tax plans of President Barack Obama and four Republican candidates with the most detailed tax proposals: Cain, Perry, Romney and Huntsman.

Unlike the proposals of his potential Republican rivals, Obama's plan would raise taxes for the wealthy family in the study and would prevent tax increases for the other three households.

The study's results are shaped by the lack of specificity in the candidates' proposals and by assumptions about the families. The households were all designed as families of four, with a married couple filing jointly who have a child in college and a child in grade school.

Also, because the analysis examines only federal income tax payments and refunds, it doesn't consider how corporate and payroll taxes affect families, and it doesn't account for benefits that the families would receive from the government. It also doesn't address state and local taxes or any macroeconomic benefits from changes in the tax code.

Correct But Incomplete

"It is correct but incomplete," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was the economic advisor to Republican Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

The wealthy family in the study earns $1 million a year, and, like many in the top tax bracket, it receives a sizable share of that money -- $237,500 -- in capital gains and dividends subject to lower tax rates. It has no mortgage interest because the family's home is paid off, and takes $155,000 in itemized deductions for state and local taxes and charitable contributions.

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