To Win Votes, Trump Floats an Array of Expensive Tax Cuts

When it comes to tax policy, former President Donald J. Trump has appeared in recent weeks to channel Oprah Winfrey, the television legend whose audience giveaways became a cultural sensation.

But instead of free cars, Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is offering his audiences bespoke tax cuts. For restaurant and hotel employees in Nevada, a swing state, Mr. Trump offered “no taxes on tips.” For the retired Americans who vote in great numbers, he said he would end taxes on Social Security benefits. For business executives at the Economic Club of New York, Mr. Trump offered a cut in the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, from 21 percent, for domestic manufacturers.

And for his fellow New Yorkers, whom Mr. Trump will address at a rally on Wednesday evening, he suggested he would bring back a prized deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, that he once limited.

The plans, so far offered as pithy one-liners without detailed explanations, have proven politically popular, energizing crowds at his rallies and in one instance even prompting his Democratic rival to adopt a version of his idea. They have also scandalized tax and budget experts in Washington, who balk at the mounting cost of Mr. Trump’s anti-tax crusade.

“The pattern is, you show up somewhere, you think about what that person wants and you propose it without regard to cost,” said Marc Goldwein, the senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates lower deficits. “I do think this is really troubling.”

Mr. Trump has not been shy about the political goals of his tax cut proposals, telling attendees at a rally in Tucson, Ariz., last week that not taxing Social Security benefits would be a “big deal.” He added, “You remember that, seniors, when you go to vote.”