INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) — President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are rolling out a wide-ranging plan to cut taxes for individuals and corporations, simplify the tax system, and likely double the standard deduction used by most Americans.
Months in the making, the plan meets a political imperative for Republicans to deliver an overhaul of the U.S. tax code after the failure of the health care repeal.
The public reveal of the plan took place Wednesday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
The day before, details emerged on Capitol Hill while Trump personally appealed to House Republicans and Democrats at the White House to get behind his proposal.
“We will cut taxes tremendously for the middle class. Not just a little bit but tremendously,” President Trump said. He predicted jobs “will be coming back in because we have a non-competitive tax structure right now and we’re going to go super competitive.”
Among the details: repeal of the tax on multi-million-dollar estates, a steep reduction in the rate corporations pay from 35 percent to 20 percent and potentially four tax brackets, down from the current seven. The current top rate for individuals, those earning more than $418,000 a year, is 39.6 percent. The plan would also cut the tax rate for the wealthiest Americans from 39.6 percent to 35 percent.
The goal, President Trump says is a simpler tax code that will spur economic growth and make U.S. companies more competitive with overseas rivals.Meantime, President Trump pointed to Indiana as a model for cutting taxes and regulations. He also cited Indiana’s time under Vice President Mike Pence, the state’s former governor, as an example of how a tax revamp can produce economic growth. He told the crowd, “it’s time for Washington to learn from the wisdom of Indiana.”
The framework was crafted behind closed doors over months by top White House economic officials, GOP congressional leaders and the Republican heads of tax-writing panels in the House and Senate.
U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly released the following statement after traveling with President Trump to Indianapolis and attending his speech:
“I work for Hoosiers, not President Trump or any political party. As it stands, the framework released today is missing many details that will be critical to determining whether working- and middle-class families truly stand to benefit. These Hoosiers will be foremost in my mind as I continue to engage with my colleagues in the Senate and also with the White House to try to craft a tax reform bill that will provide greater economic security to these families and also create and protect jobs here in Indiana.”
