WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he’s open to raising some tax rates to help pay for a bigger tax break for middle-class Americans.
“If the Democrats come up with an idea for tax cuts – and I’m a big believer in tax cuts – I would absolutely pursue something even if it means some adjustment,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House on Wednesday. When the reporter asked if that could include a corporate rate increase, Trump said “Yeah.”
One of the centerpieces of Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul was slashing the corporate rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. Changes for individual taxpayers, such as rate cuts and an almost doubling of the standard deduction, were set to expire at the end of 2025 for budget reasons.
Less than a week before the midterm elections, the White House and chief House tax writer Kevin Brady said they would start working on a 10 percent tax cut for middle-income families next year if they maintained control of Congress. The joint statement followed almost 10 days of confusion after Trump caught Republican leaders off guard by talking about introducing a 10 percent middle-class break soon.
Laura Davison is a Bloomberg News staff writer.
