Here Are Trump's Tax Priorities if Reelected: Sen. Portman

By Melanie Waddell

News November 02, 2020 at 05:27 PM

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Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

If reelected, President Donald Trump's first order of business on taxes will be to ensure "what worked in the 2017 [tax] bill continues," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio., said Friday.

Looking at the expiring tax provisions that are part of the 2017 tax law and "making sure those provisions can continue" after he leaves office will be among Trump's "top priorities," Portman said during a Friday webcast held by the Tax Policy Center.

Portman also opined that the "chances are good" that a stimulus bill could pass during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress.

He noted that provisions like the New Markets Tax Credit, which incentivizes community development, and the excise tax on brewers are set to expire in a few years, along with all of the individual tax provisions. For example, Portman continued, "the doubling of the standard deduction and the rates would change."

Also critical, Portman said, is the required minimum distribution amortization, which is expiring at the end of 2021.

"It's critical — the ability to expense under the RMD is important for industry and our economic growth for our country," he said.

He argued that if "we're not able to extend those [provisions] then we're not going to see the kind of economic … not just macro growth, but the opportunity economy that we had prior to COVID-19."

As to the chances that a stimulus bill will pass in the lame-duck session, Portman said he believes expiring tax provisions as well as a "broader COVID-19 package" will be taken up.

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