Pence: White House, GOP releasing tax-reform principles today

The White House and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill will release tax reform principles on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence said.

“Later today, Congress and the White House will issue a statement laying out our guiding principles for tax reform,” Pence said Thursday morning in a speech to members of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

“I’ll make you a promise: Discussions and negotiations will continue, details will continue to be worked out, but rest assured, we’re going to cut taxes, and we’re going to cut taxes this year,” the vice president added.

{mosads}A group of Trump administration officials and prominent congressional Republicans known as the “Big Six” have been meeting regularly for the last several months to reach an agreement on a tax plan that the White House, House and Senate can all back. 

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), one of the members of the “Big Six,” told attendees at a Capitol Hill Club event on Tuesday that the group would be releasing tax principles this week and that the House Ways and Means Committee would use those principles as the starting point for legislation.

Pence said on Thursday that the White House plans to cut taxes for individuals and businesses, simplify the tax code and repeal the estate tax.

He added that “the president has made is clear that we’re going to cut the business tax rate to 15 percent.” Small businesses would be able to take advantage of that rate.

The NFIB, which represents small businesses, is one of a number of business groups that have been pushing for Congress to take swift action on tax reform. The group’s tax-reform priorities include simplification of the tax code and parity in tax rates for small businesses and corporations.