President Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of temporarily doing away with the payroll tax in order to give the U.S. economy a boost as it struggles amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump proposed reducing the payroll tax for both employers and employees from 14.4 percent to zero during a lunch with Republican senators where the economic response to the coronavirus was the main subject of conversation.
Additionally, sources told Fox News that Trump would like to eventually make the payroll tax cut permanent and fund Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance from general revenues.
The president first mentioned the idea of temporally halting the payroll tax on Monday during a news conference alongside the White House’s coronavirus task force. He also mentioned moves to aid small businesses and help hourly workers who might become sick.
“They’ll be very dramatic,” Trump said of the proposed economic measures during an evening briefing at the White House. “This blindsided the world and I think we handled it very well.”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow were on Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans on Tuesday afternoon.
Still, there are mixed reactions from Republicans on Capitol Hill about the proposal of a payroll tax holiday. One source familiar with the proposal tells Fox News that addressing the payroll tax is “the fastest possible way” to address economic concerns. The source said that crafting proposals such as “unemployment insurance and dropping money out of helicopters takes months to engineer. But the payroll tax could hit immediately – especially if they include both employers and employees. – READ MORE
Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below --