ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Trump unveiled his administration’s tax overhaul plan Wednesday in a speech in Indianapolis, announcing tax cuts for businesses and individuals.
The plan proposes to slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, from 35 percent; lower the top individual tax rate to 35 percent, from 39.6 percent; repeal the estate tax; double the size of standard deductions for married couples and individuals; and expand child tax credits.
Trump has said repeatedly on previous occasions that he wants a 15 percent corporate tax rate, but said Wednesday that 20 is the “perfect number.”
“I wanted to start at 15 so that we got 20,” Trump told reporters prior to departing for Indiana on Wednesday. “It just — the numbers were — 15 was so low we didn’t take in the revenue. But I wanted 15, so we got 20 — 20 is my number. So I’m not negotiating that number. I really — I am not going to negotiate.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan has argued for a 22.5 percent rate.
The plan includes a tax cut for the country’s highest earners, despite Trump’s pledge that it would not benefit the wealthiest Americans. The administration has said that the House and Senate committees crafting the legislation could choose to add a tax bracket above the 35 percent rate if necessary.
Trump argued that the tax reform plan would restore a competitive advantage for U.S. businesses and create more jobs and higher wages for Americans. Administration officials said the new framework would make the tax code simple, fair and easier to understand.
Any changes “should benefit loyal, hardworking Americans and their families,” according to Trump.
Trump, who previewed his plan Tuesday with House Ways and Means Committee members from both parties, said his plan is based on four principles: making the tax code simple and fair, cutting taxes “tremendously” for the middle class, lowering the tax rate for businesses and “bringing back trillions of dollars in wealth parked overseas.”
The White House is looking for a legislative win after Republican leaders said Tuesday they would no longer hold a vote on their Obamacare replacement plan. Three members of the Senate said they wouldn’t approve the measure, effectively killing the bill.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the sponsors of the health care legislation, vowed to return to the issue after tax overhaul efforts.
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