Treasury nominee aims for sustained 3%-4% GDP growth

ter than that.”

Some tax experts voiced cautious optimism about the proposals, even as they cautioned about a potential repeat of the federal deficit increases that followed the Reagan administration’s 1981 tax system overhaul.

Slashing the corporate tax rate and allowing businesses to expense capital investments in the year they’re made could make 3% to 4% GDP growth “a reasonable goal,” said Robert Goulder, senior tax policy counsel for Tax Analysts, a non-partisan publisher focused on tax policy and administration.

But capping mortgage tax deductions and other cost-saving proposals, such as reducing or eliminating deductions for state and local taxes, could prove politically difficult, said Goulder. Others have tried and failed, he said, citing the federal tax reforms proposed in 2014 by then-congressman David Camp, R-Mich.

“Where are the spending cuts? Where are the federal entitlement reforms?” Goulder asked. “Can we run up a larger deficit without having negative effects that outweigh the positives of pro-growth tax plans?”

Cutting the corporate tax rate will generate more investments, Robert Goulder, factory growth and jobs, said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy group focused on limited government and

of the non-partisan Tax Analysts

free markets. However, referring to personal income taxes, Edwards predicted it would be “difficult to ensure that everyone gets a break.”