Steve Mnuchin says backdating tax reform ‘absolutely’ a possibility

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration is considering backdating tax reform to the beginning of the year.

When asked at the Delivering Alpha conference, Mr. Mnuchin said backdating is “something we are considering” and that “it would be a big boon for the economy.”

The Treasury secretary did hesitate about cutting the tax rate to 15 percent, which President Trump has said would be his goal.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to achieve that, given the budget issue,” Mr. Mnuchin said.

Mr. Trump and Republicans have made tax reform overhaul their main priority for the fall and have repeatedly promised to pass the legislation before the end of the year. No plan or legislation has been released by Congress or the White House yet, but Mr. Mnuchin heads to Capitol Hill later today to meet with lawmakers on the issue.

He did acknowledge that health care did take the priority in the first half of the year, which delayed the start of tax reform, but that the president is now wholly focused on taxes.

“Health care took longer than we expected, we then got into the August recess, and that’s what pushed back tax reform,” he said. “The president still very much wants to get health care done. It’s not the major focus at the moment, but it’s on the president’s agenda.”