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The Latest: Trump makes case for sweeping tax overhaul

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the House Ways and Means committee in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Original Publication Date September 27, 2017 - 7:06 AM

WASHINGTON - The Latest on the Republican plan to overhaul the tax code (all times local):

3:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump is making the case for a sweeping plan to overhaul the tax system for individuals and corporations. He calls it a "once in a generation" opportunity to cut taxes.

The president says in Indiana that he wants to cut taxes for middle-class families to make the system simpler and fairer.

Trump says his tax plan will "bring back the jobs and the wealth that have left our country." He says it's time for the nation to fight for American workers.

He's praising his vice-president, Mike Pence, Indiana's former governor. Trump says, "it's time for Washington to learn from the wisdom of Indiana."

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2:52 p.m.

A budget watchdog group in Washington says the new GOP tax plan could cost $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget admits its estimate is very preliminary since so many details are unclear, but its take is that the plan contains about $5.8 trillion in tax cuts but only $3.6 trillion worth of offsetting tax increases. That $2.2 trillion would be added to the nation's $20 trillion debt.

That's more than the $1.5 trillion debt cost that has emerged in a deal among Senate Republicans.

Republicans controlling Congress initially promised that the overhaul of the tax code wouldn't add to the debt. The group also notes that the $2.2 trillion cost could grow by another $500 billion when interest costs are added in.

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1:54 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he's always wanted to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent — even though he said repeatedly he wanted to see it lowered to 15 per cent.

Trump told reporters as he departed Washington for Indiana on Wednesday afternoon that a 20 per cent rate was his "red line" and that it had always been his goal.

"In fact, I wanted to start at 15 so that we got 20," he said, adding: "20's my number."

Trump also denies the plan unveiled by the White House and congressional Republicans Wednesday would benefit the wealthy.

He says: "I think there's very little benefit for people of wealth."

Under the plan, corporations would see their top tax rate cut from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.

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1:37 p.m.

A vocal group of the most conservative House Republicans has come out in support of a draft tax plan endorsed by both President Donald Trump and top congressional GOP leaders.

The House Freedom Caucus endorsement is noteworthy because it could ease House passage of a budget plan that's the first step to advancing the tax cut measure through Congress.

The group says the outline will allow workers to "keep more of their money," while simplifying the loophole-choked tax code and making U.S. companies more competitive with their foreign rivals.

The group had held up action on the budget measure as they demanded more details on taxes.

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11:21 a.m.

President Donald Trump has two red lines that he refuses to cross on overhauling taxes: the corporate rate must be cut to 20 per cent and the savings must go to the middle class.

Gary Cohn, the president's top economics aide, says any overhaul signed by the president needs to include these two elements.

Trump had initially pushed for cutting the 39.6 per cent corporate tax rate to 15 per cent.

The administration says that the benefits of any tax cut will not favour the wealthy, with Cohn saying that an additional tax bracket could be added to levy taxes on the top one per cent of earners if needed.

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11:20 a.m.

The Senate's top Democrat is blasting a new tax cut plan backed by President Donald Trump as a giveaway to the rich.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says Trump's plan only gives "crumbs" to the middle class, while top-bracket earners making more than a half-million dollars a year would reap a windfall.

The New York Democrat also blasted the plan for actually increasing the bottom tax rate from 10 per cent to 12 per cent, calling it a "punch to the gut of working Americans."

Schumer said the plan is little more than an "across-the-board tax cut for America's millionaires and billionaires."

The plan, to be officially released Wednesday afternoon, is the top item on Washington's agenda after the GOP failure to repeal the Obama health care law.

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9:53 a.m.

A new Republican blueprint for overhauling the U.S. tax code employs the themes of economic populism that President Donald Trump trumpeted during the presidential campaign to win support from working-class voters.

A copy of the plan to be released later Wednesday says, "Too many in our country are shut out of the dynamism of the U.S. economy." That's led to what the plans says is "the justifiable feeling that the system is rigged against hardworking Americans."

The plan, obtained by The Associated Press, says the Trump administration and Congress "will work together to produce tax reform that will put America first."

The GOP plan for the first major rewrite of the U.S. tax code in 30 years also says corporations will be stopped from shipping jobs and capital overseas.

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9:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are proposing a tax plan that they say will be simple and fair.

In a document obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, they outline a blueprint for almost doubling the standard deduction for married taxpayers filing jointly to $24,000, and $12,000 for individuals.

The plan calls for cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 20 per cent. The GOP proposal also calls for reducing the number of tax brackets from seven to three with a surcharge on the wealthiest Americans.

The plan also leaves intact the deduction for mortgage interest and charitable deductions.

The White House and Republicans plan a formal roll out later Wednesday.

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4:26 a.m.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are rolling out a sweeping plan to cut taxes for individuals and corporations, simplify the tax system, and likely double the standard deduction used by most Americans.

Months in the making, the plan meets a political imperative for Republicans to deliver an overhaul of the U.S. tax code after the failure of the health care repeal.

The public reveal of the plan was set for Wednesday. The day before, details emerged on Capitol Hill while Trump personally appealed to House Republicans and Democrats at the White House to get behind his proposal.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017
The Associated Press

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