What would happen if Vivek Ramaswamy’s plan to dole out billions in state income-tax and capital-gains tax cuts to wealthy Ohioans—including himself—became law?
Working families would foot the bill, and funding for K–12 education, public colleges, Medicaid, the criminal-justice system and services for children, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities would be in jeopardy.
Don’t get stuck with the tab. Sign our petition and tell state legislators to reject Vivek’s dangerous, unfair tax plan.
Why This Matters
Since entering the governor’s race in February 2025, Vivek Ramaswamy has repeatedly vowed to eliminate Ohio’s personal income tax and exempt capital-gains income from taxation. He claims his plan would enable “every Ohioan to keep more of what they earn.”
Innovation Ohio, Policy Matters Ohio and the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission have reached a different conclusion.
According to research conducted by the groups, eliminating the personal income tax would open an estimated $10 billion-per-year hole in the state’s operating budget. An Innovation Ohio study says filling that hole would require some combination of spending cuts, increased sales taxes and higher local property taxes—changes that could reduce the amount of income many Ohioans keep.
Who Wins, Who Loses?
Separate analyses issued by Innovation Ohio, Policy Matters Ohio and the Legislative Service Commission found that wealthy Ohioans would benefit most from proposals to eliminate personal income taxes and exempt capital-gains income from taxation.
The LSC found that 81.6% of the benefit from eliminating taxes on capital-gains income would flow to Ohioans earning more than $200,000 per year. Approximately 15,000 Ohioans earning more than $1 million would receive 55.6% of the benefit, while people earning less than $100,000 would receive only 7.3%.
The disparity is much starker in terms of dollars. Policy Matters Ohio and ITEP estimated that the wealthiest 1% of Ohioans would receive an average annual capital-gains tax cut of $6,424. Those in the bottom 60% would receive average cuts ranging from $0 to $12.
A TiffinOhio.net analysis illustrates why Ramaswamy and other wealthy Ohioans have so much to gain. Financial disclosures show that Ramaswamy reported approximately $37 million in capital gains in 2015 and $174.5 million in 2020—a total of $211.6 million. Applying Ohio’s current 2.75% rate to an equivalent amount of gains produces an illustrative tax reduction of approximately $5.8 million.
Savings generated by eliminating the state’s personal income tax are equally skewed. A 2024 report issued by Policy Matters Ohio, using modeling by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, estimated that nearly 70 cents of every dollar in income-tax cuts would go to the wealthiest 20% of Ohioans, while the bottom 60% would receive only about 11 cents.
In dollar terms, the wealthiest 1% would receive an average annual tax cut of $38,737, compared with approximately $0 to $733 for Ohioans earning $79,200 or less.
Policy Matters Ohio and ITEP also modeled what would happen if the state sales tax were increased to 8.07% to fill just half the budget gap caused by eliminating the income tax. Their finding: the wealthiest 1% would receive an average net tax cut of $35,366, while Ohioans earning less than $25,500 would pay an additional $174 and those earning between $25,500 and $49,000 would pay an additional $153.
What about the budget hole?
Ramaswamy claims that economic growth, government spending reductions—including closing some of the state’s colleges and universities—and new residents attracted to Ohio would compensate for the lost revenue. His plan, however, lacks important details about the amount of revenue expected from growth, contingency plans if that growth does not materialize, and how schools, Medicaid, libraries and other services would be protected.
Innovation Ohio’s 2026 report, What Vivek Ramaswamy’s Income Tax Plan Would Mean for Ohio, compares those assumptions with the ones that led Kansas to sharply reduce income taxes in 2012. When projected revenue failed to materialize, Kansas experienced a severe budget crisis. Education funding was cut, the state’s credit rating was downgraded and the sales tax was increased. By 2017, Kansas lawmakers had reversed most of the cuts.
Innovation Ohio also identified the potential consequences for Ohio. A projected loss of approximately $10 billion—nearly one-quarter of the state’s operating revenue—could threaten funding for K–12 education, public colleges, Medicaid, the criminal-justice system and services for children, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities.
Ramaswamy has already said some public colleges should be closed as part of his effort to reduce state spending. Innovation Ohio argues that working- and middle-class families would bear much of the burden through cuts to vital services and increased local property and sales taxes.
Don’t get stuck with the tab for Ramaswamy’s multibillion-dollar gift to the rich. Sign our petition today and tell your state legislators to reject his dangerous tax proposal.