President Donald Trump is promoting his tax overhaul pitch on a visit Wednesday to North Dakota.
On Twitter Wednesday, Trump says he’ll “discuss tax reform and tax cuts.” He adds: “we are the highest taxed nation in the world – that will change.”
The president, who has offered few specifics on the plan, met with Republican congressional leaders Tuesday to discuss the tax efforts. Trump and congressional Republicans say they want to simplify the tax code, lowering the rate for corporations from the current 15-35 percent range, and bringing relief for the middle class.
At an event near Bismarck, Trump is expected to promote the plan as an opportunity for bipartisanship. He’ll be joined by North Dakota’s Democratic senator, Heidi Heitkamp, who’s traveling with Trump on Air Force One.
The overall U.S. tax burden is actually one of the lowest among the 32 developed and large emerging-market economies tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Taxes made up 26.4 percent of the total U.S. economy in 2015, according to the OECD. That’s far below Denmark’s tax burden of 46.6 percent, Britain’s 32.5 percent or Germany’s 36.9 percent. Just four OECD countries had a lower tax bite than the U.S.: South Korea, Ireland, Chile and Mexico.
The United States does have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, but, due to tax breaks, many companies don’t pay the full rate.
(AP)