White House may drop some cuts for wealthy from tax bill: report

The White House and congressional GOP leaders might scrap some aspects of a tax bill that would benefit wealthy individuals, The Washington Post reported, citing three people briefed on the discussions.

Administration officials are considering keeping the top individual tax rate at 39.6 percent, rather than lowering it to 35 percent as the White House proposed in April. The White House is also considering abandoning its efforts to repeal the estate tax, according to the report.

Abandoning those tax cuts could help President Trump in his outreach to Democrats on taxes and other issues. Most Senate Democrats have signed a letter saying that they would oppose any plan that cuts taxes for those earning in the top 1 percent of income.

In a meeting with a bipartisan group of House members last week, Trump said that the rich “will not be gaining at all” under his tax plan. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said last week that if rates are lowered for the rich, the cut will be offset by eliminating deductions.

Yet Trump as recently as two weeks ago publicly called for the estate tax’s repeal. In a speech in North Dakota, he said that doing so would help small businesses and family farmers.

But Democrats have blasted Trump’s past calls for repealing the estate tax, which applies to estates for married couples worth more than about $11 million.

A group of administration officials and key Republican congressmen are planning to release a tax-framework document next week. Following the framework’s release, legislation will be produced by the congressional tax-writing committees.

A White House spokeswoman declined to comment.

– updated at 1:43 p.m.