Trump executive order aims to simplify tax code

President Trump signed an executive order yesterday aimed at simplifying the tax code as his administration moves toward a full overhaul that the Treasury secretary says is coming “soon.”

“The tax code has become extremely expensive and burdensome,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters yesterday morning. “Individuals and businesses spend over 6.1 billion hours, the cost is over $230 billion. I think everybody would agree the tax system is way too complicated.”

The order, issued in Trump’s first visit to the Treasury since taking office, directs Mnuchin to review any tax regulations from the beginning of 2016 to now to “look at whether there are undue financial burdens, unnecessary complexities, and requirements.”

The Treasury is expected to draw up a report that addresses the issues and come up with solutions by either modifying the regulations they deem unnecessary or repealing them altogether.

Trump also signed two presidential memoranda aimed at the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. One memoranda directs Mnuchin to examine the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s process of designated banks and financial firms as being “too big to fail.”

“The purpose of the orders is to make clear what the president’s and the administration’s priorities are and to signify the importance of these issues to the American people,” Mnuchin said.

Mnuchin declined to specify when the administration’s plan for tax reform will be unveiled, but said it would be coming “soon” and Trump teased a “big announcement” Wednesday.