Trump unveils GOP plan for tax overhaul

INDIANAPOLIS— Promising a “middleclass miracle,” U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday was in full salesman mode as he tried to build momentum behind his plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code and revive his moribund legislative agenda.

Hours after the White House and congressional Republicans released a framework for sweeping changes to the tax system, the president told hundreds of supporters at the Indiana State Fairgrounds the plan was “a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

“This is a revolutionary change and the biggest winners will be the everyday American workers as jobs start pouring into our country, as companies start competing for American labour and as wages start going up at levels that you haven’t seen in many years,” he said.

Trump has faced repeated, embarrassing setbacks, including Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace former president Barack Obama’s health-care law.

The tax plan seeks to slash the corporate rate from 35 per cent to 20 per cent and create three individual tax brackets with rates of 12 per cent, 25 per cent and 35 per cent, with a recommended surcharge on the very wealthy.

Trump also wants to simplify the tax code to allow the majority of Americans to file on a single sheet of paper. Calling his plan a “giant win for the American people,” Trump derided the current tax system as a “relic” and a “colossal barrier” standing in the way of the nation’s economic comeback.

The sales pitch also offered more evidence that Trump would — unlike with health care — make an attempt to cultivate a small group of moderate Democrats who might be willing to cross the aisle and back his plan.

Trump and the architects of the Republican plan insist that the overhaul is aimed squarely at benefiting the middle class and wouldn’t favour the wealthy. Still, a cut in the tax rate for Americans making a half-million dollars or more would drop by almost five percentage points as the wealthiest sliver of the nation reaped tremendous benefits.

“My plan is for the working people, and my plan is for jobs,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“No, I don’t benefit . . . I think there’s very little benefit for people of wealth.”