NO PLACE LIKE HOME Trump goes for massive tax cuts

OPPOSITION: BUT ‘IT’S GOING TO PUT PEOPLE BACK TO WORK’ Signature reform will be reduction of the corporate rate, from 35% to 15%.

The Trump administration unveiled plans to dramatically cut taxes for US businesses and individuals, slashing the corporate rate to 15%, but the once-in-a-generation overhaul is headed for a tough fight in Congress.

Donald Trump is seeking to follow through on a flagship promise to reform the tax code to boost the economy, businesses and families, including middle-class and working-class Americans.

“Under the Trump plan, we will have a massive tax cut for businesses and massive tax reform and simplification,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced from the White House.

Slashing taxes on income and business was a key part of Trump’s election platform.

The plan’s signature reform would be a dramatic reduction of the corporate tax rate, from the current 35% to 15%.

Tax brackets for individuals would be compressed from seven to just three – 10%, 25% and 35%, lower than the current top rate of 39.6%.

“It’s a great plan,” Trump said. “It’s going to put people back to work.”

The proposal also eliminates the estate tax – referred to by some opponents as the “death tax” – a levy on property including cash and real estate transferred from deceased individuals to their heirs.

But with the tax plan limiting most deductions, it could expose more of an average American household’s income to taxes.

Gary Cohn, the president’s chief economic advisor who unveiled the plan, dubbed it “the most significant tax reform legislation since 1986 and one of the biggest tax cuts in American history”.

The goal, the White House said, is for the reforms to propel the US economy to three percent annual growth.

But the long-anticipated overhaul – details of which remained unclear beyond a handful of headline measures – could face stiff opposition in Congress, including from some Republicans, with lawmakers sharply divided over the prospect of fuelling already rising deficits.

“This isn’t going to be easy. Doing big things never is,” Cohn admitted. – AFP

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