07/05/2018

Trump Touts ‘Phase Two’ Tax Bill

With details scarce, president assures Fox News of its merit

Republicans’ plan for a “phase two” tax bill is still short on details, but President Donald Trump suggested this week that tax writers may lower the corporate tax rate even further.

“One of the things we’re thinking about is bring the 21 percent [tax rate for corporations] down to 20,” Trump said on Fox News this week. “And then, for the most part, the rest of it would go to the middle class. It is a great stimulus.”

Trump’s comments were the first to suggest that Congress might lower the corporate rate again. The 2017 tax law already lowered the top corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) has said his plan is to move a number of tax bills at the same time this fall, including a measure to make permanent some of the 2017 tax cuts for individuals and pass-through businesses, whose owners pay taxes on the individual side. Right now, those tax cuts expire in 2025.

The House also expects to draft a separate bill to address retirement savings, Brady said.

“We think the timing is right to help families save more and earlier in their life,” Brady said at an event last week.

Brady said he foresees releasing a legislative outline next month and voting on a bill this fall. While it’s conceivable that House Republicans act on a “phase two” tax bill, the plan would need 60 votes in the Senate, meaning at least nine Senate Democrats would have to support it.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.