Republicans to unveil tax reform legislation next week

US House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that House Republicans will unveil the long-awaited tax reform legislation next week and pass the bill by the Thanksgiving week.

Ryan laid out the timeline on tax reform during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, Xinhua cited US-based political website the Hill as saying.

The speaker also said the House of Representatives will pass the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018 on Thursday, which went through the Senate last week, paving the way for a vital vote on the tax reform.

The budget resolution would allow Republicans to pass their tax reform plan in the Senate without needing to secure any support from Democrats.

Without that special procedure, it would become much more difficult for Republicans to get the tax bill through the upper chamber.

Ryan told reporters after the meeting of House Republicans that the House is on track to pass tax reform by the Thanksgiving week.

"Thanksgiving week is opening week of gun season. So our goal is to get it out of the House by then. The Senate's going to be a little slower on their track, because as you know, tax goes first in the House," he said.

US President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said recently that they hoped to pass the tax bill by the end of this year, but added that it would take time to go through the legislative procedures.

--IANS

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