WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that taxes on rich Americans might rise, as he pursues a tax code overhaul and reaches out to both Democrats and Republicans in a push to win support for a plan still far from complete.
Trump met with the two top congressional Democrats over dinner at the White House in a search for common ground that could make it easier to get a tax-cut package through Congress.
Both sides said the meeting, which covered an array of legislative issues, was productive.
Earlier, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said tax reductions would be paid for by faster economic growth.
The White House and the Republican-led Congress have yet to put forth a detailed tax plan, despite months of high-level talks that had until recent days excluded Democrats.
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said an outline of a plan would be unveiled during the work week beginning Sept. 25, with congressional tax-writing committees crafting detailed legislation in the subsequent weeks.
Mnuchin told Fox News Channel the Trump administration would use its own economic assumptions to gauge the impact of its tax cuts on the federal budget deficit and the $20 trillion national debt, a key issue in Washington’s intensifying tax debate.
“It will be revenue neutral under our growth assumptions,” Mnuchin said. “So, we can pay for these tax cuts with economic growth.”
The administration believes tax cuts will lead to much faster growth than do congressional analysts or most private forecasters, a likely fault line in the debate ahead.
As for taxing the rich, Trump said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers - his second in as many days - that the wealthy “will not be gaining at all with this plan. ... If they have to go higher, they’ll go higher, frankly.”
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