President Trump will be “very flexible” on the terms of the tax reform legislation in order to get it passed, his top economic adviser said Monday.
The president will insist on the 20 percent target rate for corporate taxes and tax relief for the middle class, but will be “very flexible on everything else, cause he knows the importance of getting tax reform done,” Gary Cohn told a meeting of the American Bankers Association in Chicago.
Republicans are working toward passing a budget, the first step toward writing tax reform legislation. The second step would be for the tax-writing committees to produce an actual bill.
The White House will be “more than flexibile in working with the Senate and the House” when it comes time to put the legislation together, Cohn said.
The Trump administration and congressional GOP leadership released a tax framework in September meant to represent the agreed-on plans for tax reform legislation that Congress would draft. That document includes a number of provisions beyond lowering rates, including elimination of the estate tax and allowing companies to immediately write off all new investments in equipment. It also indicates that Republicans will try to eliminate several popular tax breaks in order to offset some of the revenues lost by those tax cuts. All those features could be negotiated over the next few weeks.
The priority for the administration, Cohn told the bankers, is getting legislation passed this year, even if that means keeping Congress in over the holidays or working seven days a week.
“It’s really ambitious, and I think it’s really possible, and it’s really essential,” Cohn said.
