Mnuchin downplays Trump’s talk of middle-class tax cut

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday downplayed the chances for a middle-class tax cut like the one President Trump called for in the weeks before November’s midterm elections.

“I’m not going to comment on whether it is a real thing or not a real thing,” Mnuchin said in an interview with Bloomberg. “I’m saying for the moment we have other things we’re focused on.”

{mosads}Trump in October said he was planning to propose a 10-percent tax cut for middle-class families – remarks that took many in Washington by surprise at the time.

Trump last year signed a tax-cut bill that reduces tax rates across-the-board for individuals and businesses. The law never garnered widespread support from the public, and some saw the call for an additional tax cut as an attempt to blunt criticism of the 2017 measure.

Mnuchin told Bloomberg that he would like to work with Congress on making “some minor technical corrections” to the 2017 tax law, like fixing an error that retailers say hurts their ability to renovate their facilities.

House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-Texas) has offered a year-end tax package that includes fixes to the 2017 tax law sought by retailers, and the bill may get a vote in the House this week. But the bill is unlikely to get a vote in the Senate, where it would need support from some Democrats to pass.