The policy group released two cost estimates: the first, $4.4 trillion, applies if pass-throughs do not get the 15 percent rate, Cole wrote. The second estimate, $5.9 trillion, “assumes businesses must incorporate and pay shareholder-level taxes in order to take advantage of Trump’s 15 percent business rate,” the foundation’s news release said.

The analysis entertains the possibility that “the Trump plan would allow more businesses to file their taxes in the way that C corporations do, even if their legal structure today would have them pay taxes as a pass-through.”

If that hybrid approach is what Trump is proposing, partnerships would pay 15 percent before distributing earnings to their owners -- and the owners would pay a 20 percent tax on those dividends, according to the Tax Foundation analysis.

“It is not immediately clear that pass-throughs would benefit from adding a second layer of taxation by opting for the 15 percent tax on their retained earnings,” the analysis found.

Withdrawn Statement

A statement that was posted to Trump’s website on Monday morning -- and then withdrawn -- addressed that concern. It said, first, that businesses could “elect to be taxed using the business tax rate of 15 percent or ordinary individual income rates.” (Trump has proposed consolidating the existing seven individual income rates to just three: 12, 25 and 33 percent.)

It also said: “Small business owners who elect to be taxed at the 15 percent business tax rate will not face double taxation. Owners of large businesses will incur dividend taxes.” The statement didn’t describe how tax officials would differentiate between large and small businesses. “Final details would be negotiated with Congress,” it said.

It’s unclear whether the statement, which was removed from the website, represents a valid statement of Trump’s policy. It was reported earlier today by Bloomberg BNA.

‘Dynamic Scoring’

Miller, the Trump policy adviser, said in his statement that the campaign believes the correct 10-year revenue cost for Trump’s plan is $2.6 trillion -- a figure that’s based on so-called “dynamic scoring,” which accounts for anticipated economic growth. Cole’s analysis on Monday arrived at a dynamic scoring result of $3.9 trillion, if the pass-through provision is indeed unchanged.