On the eve of the rollout of President Trump’s outline for tax reform, the top House Republican tax writer projected confidence that he will be able to work with the White House toward tax reform and welcomed the suggestion that Trump would seek a rock-bottom low 15 percent business tax rate.
“I think the bolder, the better,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, speaking to reporters at the Capitol before he was scheduled to meet with Trump’s top economic advisers to discuss tax reform.
Brady deferred questions about some of the specifics reported to be in Trump’s Wednesday proposal that would strain his ability to move a package through the House, such as infrastructure spending or a child care tax break. The 15 percent rate that Trump reportedly will seek for both corporations and businesses that file through the individual side of the code also would create difficulties for advancing legislation on a partisan basis, as Republicans are likely to try to do.
Brady’s own plan, released in June, calls for a 20 percent corporate tax rate and a top rate of 25 percent for small businesses.
Rather than comment on Trump’s plan now, Brady suggested that he wants to work with the White House and the Senate on whether and how to pay for tax rate reductions.
He did say, however, that the tax reform has to be done “in a permanent way,” indicating that a simple tax cut isn’t on his agenda.
While Trump’s announcement Wednesday is likely to elicit widespread comment from industries and groups that stand to be affected by tax reform, the actual timeline for legislation is consistent with a wait-and-see attitude from Congress. For Brady, the goal is to pass legislation this year.
