Mnuchin stands by contention that GOP tax cut to be biggest ever

Steven Mnuchin stood by President Donald Trump’s contention that the Republican plans now working their way through the House and Senate will deliver the biggest US tax cuts ever.

“There’s lots of different ways of looking at it. This will be the largest change since President Reagan,” the Treasury secretary said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the first of two scheduled appearances on Sunday political talk shows.

Trump has repeatedly called the proposed tax cuts the largest ever. Mnuchin was challenged by CNN correspondent Jake Tapper, who said that by various measures, including when adjusted for inflation, the measures would fall well short of that mark.

Considering the planned cut in the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent from 35 per cent, “if that’s not the biggest tax cut to make our businesses competitive, what is?” Mnuchin said. “The pass-through rate is going to be the lowest rate since the 1990s.”

“It is the biggest tax cut in history on mostly every single part of the plan,” Mnuchin said, adding that once the House and Senate resolve “small differences,” a bill can be on Trump’s desk for a signature in December.