House and Senate Republican leaders have reached an agreement in principle that would lower the corporate tax rate to 21% beginning in 2018, two people briefed on the discussions tell The Washington Post.
The agreement would also lower the top tax rate for families and individuals from 39.6% to at least 37%, a change that would deliver a major tax cut for upper-income households.
“We’ve reached an agreement, I’ll just put it that way,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, told reporters today while declining to offer any details. “You’ll get it soon enough. I just want to talk to the president first.”
President Donald Trump had previously said he would not support a tax overhaul that set the corporate rate at any level above 20%. But at the White House today, he expressed support for the 21% threshold, saying it still amounted to a major reduction.
“This is one of the biggest pieces of legislation ever signed by this country,” Trump says.
The new agreement moves Republicans very close to enacting the biggest changes to the tax code in more than 30 years. It would also amount to the biggest legislative victory President Trump has secured since taking office.
