White House hopes to release tax plan details soon

White House tax negotiators and congressional leaders still are planning to release a document in September outlining agreed-upon principles that will serve as a framework for a tax bill, according to a White House official.

The document is expected to expand on a two-page news release last month from the so-called Big Six involved in tax discussions, said the official who asked not to be named because negotiations are private. It was unclear after that news release was issued if there would be additional details forthcoming before tax writers started drafting legislative text. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, a member of the Big Six, had previously said a tax framework would be released after Labor Day.

Kevin Brady, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said during an interview Friday on Bloomberg TV that House and Senate tax writers were continuing to work on the details of a revamp over the August recess.

“We are on schedule to move this to the president’s desk this year,” Brady, of Texas, said. “It is an aggressive timetable, no question about that.”

Trump administration officials have said they’re committed to a permanent tax overhaul, and the plan is to start hearings and a markup of a tax bill after Labor Day so a version can get through the House in October and the Senate in November. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have sparred in recent days over the amount of time needed to pass complicated legislation, such as repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

Reuters reported Thursday that the White House and congressional leaders would be releasing a document outlining tax principles in early to mid-September. The page range hasn’t been firmly set, the White House official said.

A tax overhaul will require a delicate balancing act, and one that has bedeviled negotiators in the past. A major tax revamp hasn’t been passed in more than three decades, and the Trump administration is under pressure after another legislative effort — repealing and replacing the 2010 health-care legislation — failed last month.

The White House has said it wants to lower corporate and individual tax rates, eliminate deductions and simplify the code.

Trump administration officials have said they’re committed to a permanent tax overhaul, and the plan is to start hearings and a markup of a tax bill after Labor Day so a version can get through the House in October and the Senate in November.