Trump calls for another round of tax cuts

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump on Friday said he wanted to further lower the corporate tax rate, from 21 percent to 20 percent, as part of a second round of tax cuts later this year.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News to mark the six-month anniversary of the $1.5 trillion tax cut law Republicans passed last year, said other parts of the new tax plan would be tailored to the middle class.

“One of the things we’re thinking about is bringing the 21 percent down to 20 and for the most part, the rest of it will go right to the middle class,” Trump said. “It’s a great stimulus.”

Trump said the tax plan would be ready by October, “maybe a little sooner than that.”

Trump did not give more details about what he had planned in terms of tax cuts for the middle class, but Republicans have said they wanted to bring up a bill that would make permanent tax cuts they passed in December for families and individuals. Those tax cuts are currently scheduled to expire in 2025.

In December, Republicans lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Lowering the corporate tax rate from 21 to 20 would result in an additional $100 billion in tax cuts over 10 years, according to most models.

Trump also didn’t say whether Republicans planned any other changes to tax policy that might offset these new tax cuts in a way that prevented a further increase in the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office and other nonpartisan analyses project the tax law passed in December will add more than $1 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. The White House has argued these figures overstate the increase in the deficit, as administration officials generally believe cutting the corporate tax rate leads to tremendous economic growth, thereby creating enough revenue to minimize the fiscal impact.

Trump’s interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo is scheduled to air on Sunday, but the network released some excerpts on Friday.

It could not be immediately learned whether there was broad GOP support for further lowering the corporate tax rate, and it’s possible some Republicans would block the effort to drop the rate to 20 percent. Since passing their tax law, Republicans have mainly talked about the importance of impressing on voters how the legislation will do more for workers, and they have not talked much about the need to provide more assistance for corporations.

Some Republicans in Congress however have already pushed for further cuts.