White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday that President Trump wants to forgive the payroll taxes he is deferring from September through the end of the year — not eliminate the tax altogether.
“He wants permanent forgiveness of the deferral,” Ms. McEnany told reporters at the White House. “He wants to make that a permanent forgiveness of the deferral come next year…that’s as far as he’s gone.”
Mr. Trump on Saturday issued a memorandum to defer employees’ payroll tax obligations from Sept. 1-Dec. 31 for people earning up to $104,000 per year.
Employees pay 6.2% on the first $137,700 of their wages into social security and employers match that amount.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would pursue eliminating the tax if he wins re-election.
“At the end of the year, on the assumption that I win, I’m going to terminate the payroll tax, which is another thing that some of the great economists would like to see done,” he said. “We’ll be paying into Social Security through the general fund. And it works out very nicely.”
Ms. McEnany said Thursday that Mr. Trump has an “unwavering” commitment to making sure Social Security is fully funded and that seniors are taken care of.
Mr. Trump also took executive action on unemployment insurance, evictions and student loan payments after congressional Democrats and his negotiating team failed to come to an agreement on a more comprehensive coronavirus relief package.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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