On the individual side, the plan would collapse the tax brackets from seven to three, with tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent, the president said. The current top rate is 39.6 percent and the lowest rate is 10 percent. The framework also gives Congress the option of creating a higher, fourth, rate above 35 percent in the tax plan to ensure that the wealthy are paying their fair share. 
 
 The plan aims to simplify and cut taxes for the middle class by doubling the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. That would allow people to avoid a complicated process of itemizing their taxes to claim various credits and deductions. It would increase the child tax credit from $1,000 to an unspecified amount, and create a new $500 tax credit for non-child dependents, such as the elderly. 
 
 Provisions such as the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax, a levy on inherited wealth that Mr. Trump has derided for years, would be gone under the Republican proposal. 
 
 The proposal calls for reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, a shift that supporters say is needed to make American companies more competitive with their counterparts around the world. 
 
 A new tax rate of 25 percent would also be created for so-called pass-through businesses, such as partnerships and sole proprietorships, which are currently taxed at the rate of their owners. About 95 percent of businesses in the United States are structured as pass-throughs and they generate a majority of the government’s corporate tax revenue. 
 
 “This will be the lowest top marginal income tax rate for small and midsize businesses in this country in more than 80 years,” Mr. Trump said. 
 
 While Republican leaders claim to be united on the tax plan, they must now sell it to lawmakers who have been deeply divided this year. The push began at a House Republican retreat on Wednesday at Fort McNair in Washington, where Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, walked members through the blueprint and talked about the importance of coming together to fix the tax code. 
 
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 Later, in a hopeful sign for Republican leaders fretting privately about keeping their rank and file together, the conservative Freedom Caucus, whose members have derailed the party’s initiatives with hard-line demands, issued a statement of support calling the plan “forward looking” and pledging to back the party’s budget designed to ensure its passage. 
 
 The political stakes are high for a president who is desperate to score a legislative win before his first year in office draws to a close. Mr. Trump, who has eschewed the advocacy tours that his predecessors have used to build support for their top domestic priorities, made a rare direct appeal to voters during his speech, imploring them to call their representatives and senators and demand action on the tax proposal. “Let them know you’re watching,” Mr. Trump said. “Let them know you’re waiting.” 
 
 In an apparent nod to the harsh political realities the tax plan faces, Mr. Trump made an explicit overture to Democrats to support the plan. 
 
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 “Democrats and Republicans in Congress should come together, finally, to deliver this giant win for the American people,” Mr. Trump said. 
 
 But behind the scenes, Republican congressional leaders and senior White House officials have discussed bypassing Democrats and using special budget rules that would allow them to get the bill through Congress on a simple majority vote. And Mr. Trump paired his scripted talk of bipartisanship with an impromptu threat to Senator Joe Donnelly, Democrat of Indiana, saying he would personally work to defeat the senator’s re-election bid next year if he does not fall into line on the tax plan. 
 
 “If Senator Donnelly doesn’t approve it — because, you know, he’s on the other side — we will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldn’t believe,” Mr. Trump said as Mr. Donnelly looked on from the audience. 
 
 Conservatives cheered the plan as a bold and long-awaited step to spur economic growth, while Democratic leaders condemned it as an irresponsible boon to the rich. And some budget watchdogs expressed worry about the long-term impact of a plan they said could cost more than $2 trillion over a decade. 
 
 Mr. Trump, who has broken with precedent for modern American presidents by refusing to release his tax returns, insisted that wealthy people like him would not benefit — an assertion that seemed improbable for a man who runs a family-owned real estate empire and whose children stand to inherit vast sums. 
 
 “Tax reform will protect low-income and middle-income households, not the wealthy and well-connected,” Mr. Trump said, framing a proposal that would affect hundreds of millions of Americans in terms of his own self-interest. “I’m doing the right thing, and it’s not good for me, believe me.” 
 
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 Democrats scoffed. “If this framework is all about the middle class, then Trump Tower is middle-class housing,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee. “It violates Trump’s tax pledge that the rich would not gain at all under his plan by offering sweetheart deals for powerful C.E.O.s, giveaways for campaign coffers and a new way to cheat taxes for Mar-a-Lago’s loyal members.” 
 
 As with the individual side, some of the thornier business tax issues remain unaddressed. It will be left to Congress to create safeguards that prevent wealthy individuals from incorporating as pass-through businesses, which would tax their income at a lower rate. 
 
 Most itemized deductions, including those widely used for state and local tax expenses, would also be eliminated, along with most of the tax credits that businesses use. However, the plan would preserve the deductions for mortgage interest expenses and charitable giving and keep incentives for education and retirement savings plans, as well as preserve the tax credits for research and development and low-income-housing on the business side. 
 
 Another big change for companies would be a limitation of the deductibility for corporate interest expenses, in exchange for the opportunity to immediately expense business investments. The ability to immediately write off these expenses would last only five years, and the limitations for deducting interest have yet to be determined. 
 
 Perhaps the most significant, yet murky, shift is the move from a worldwide tax system to a territorial tax system for multinational corporations. In theory, this means that companies would not be taxed on their overseas earnings. But to prevent erosion of the tax base, Republicans plan to impose some form of tax on foreign profits. The transition to the new system would also include a one-time repatriation tax at yet-to-be-determined rates to encourage companies to bring offshore profits back home. 
 
 Administration officials did not provide a cost estimate for the plan. Members of the Senate Budget Committee have agreed on a budget resolution that would allow for a $1.5 trillion tax cut over 10 years. Studies of similar plans produced by Mr. Trump and House Republicans have been projected to cost $3 trillion to $7 trillion over a decade. 
 
 Republicans say economic growth will compensate for lost revenue. Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican who sits on the Finance Committee, said he was confident that a growing economy would pay for the tax cuts. 
 
 “This tax plan will be deficit reducing,” Mr. Toomey said. ||||| CLOSE Unveiling a new sweeping tax plan, U.S. President Donald Trump says it will benefit middle class workers the most and simplify the tax code. (Sept. 27) AP 
 
 President Trump speaks about tax reform in Indianapolis on Sept. 27, 2017. (Photo: Jenna Watson, The Indianapolis Star) 
 
 WASHINGTON — President Trump promised Wednesday to bring “revolutionary change” to the federal tax code that will help the middle class — and not the wealthy. 
 
 “They can call me all they want. It’s not going to help," Trump said of the well-to-do in a speech in Indianapolis. "I'm doing the right thing. And it’s not good for me, believe me.” 
 
 What would help both the country and his own legacy, Trump said, is when the economy "takes off like a rocket ship" after business taxes are dramatically cut. 
 
 The tax changes he outlined are the basis for a plan jointly agreed to with Republican congressional leaders. But Congress still has to fill in many important details before bringing to a vote legislation Trump hopes to sign before the end of the year. 
 
 The missing information will show if the plan lives up to Trump's claims, and how much the tax cuts would add to the deficit. 
 
 "Without sufficient details on how or even if these tax cuts will be fully paid for, this outline is nothing more than a fiscal fantasy," said Maya MacGuineas, head of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 
 
 Trump is seeking a much-needed win as he recovers from Republicans’ failure to repeal Obamacare and the loss of Luther Strange, Trump’s chosen candidate in Tuesday's Alabama Senate primary. 
 
 "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Trump said of the tax plan. "I guess it’s probably something I can say I’m very good at. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time." 
 
 Trump gave what for him was a controlled speech, staying mostly on topic and avoiding such issues as the Alabama race, the NFL anthem protests, or North Korea. 
 
 And he refrained from lashing out at specific Republicans for the failure of the GOP health care bill, saying “There were a couple of people that — I won’t say anything.” 
 
 Read more: 
 
 How President Trump's tax plan affects you, and what we still don't know about it 
 
 Here are 5 reasons Trump and Congress are struggling with tax reform 
 
 Trump plans to enlist grassroots and Democrats to sell tax plan he will call biggest in history 
 
 The proposed tax changeshe promoted include slashing the individual tax rates and reducing the corporate tax rate to "below the average of other industrialized nations." That, he said, would be "a revolutionary change, and the biggest winners will be the every day American workers as jobs start pouring into our country, as companies start competing for American labor, and as wages continue to grow." 
 
 On the individual side of the tax code, working poor people could owe no income tax. Filing a return could get much simpler. And there would even be a new credit for caring for elderly relatives. 
 
 Republicans also want to eliminate two taxes paid entirely by the rich and take away a deduction for state and local taxes that is used most heavily in some of the most wealthy, and Democrat-dominated, states. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the framework released Wednesday “at best throws crumbs for some middle class people.” 
 
 “Has the president read his plan?” Schumer asked. 
 
 Just arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana to make an announcement on #TaxReform! Together, we are going to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/Dy9UwhkWHL — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017 
 
 One Democrat who has said he’s willing to listen to Trump’s ideas is Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, who flew to the speech with the president on Air Force One. 
 
 Donnelly, one of Republicans’ best chances of expanding their narrow Senate majority in next year’s elections, was also one of only three Democratic senators who did not sign onto an August letter sent by Democratic leaders outlining what conditions must be met for the minority to support tax reform. 
 
 Most Democrats said they won’t support tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and won’t vote for an overhaul that adds to the deficit. 
 
 Trump said tax reform doesn’t have to be a partisan issue. 
 
 But he issued a threat to Donnelly, saying if he doesn't vote for the tax plan, "we will come here and we will campaign against him like you wouldn't believe." 
 
 "I really believe we're going to have numerous Democrats come over," Trump said. "But they'll only do it if you, the American people, make your voices heard." 
 
 President Trump talks with a guest as Sens. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Todd Young, R-Ind., walk off Air Force One on Sept. 27, 2017, in Indianapolis. (Photo: Darron Cummings, AP) 
 
 Donnelly said in a statement after the speech he needs the plan's details filled in before he can judge if workers and middle-class families will really benefit. 
 
 Robert James, president of the steelworkers union that represents Indiana workers at plants — including Carrier Corp. — which have recently laid off workers, said Wednesday the proposal won’t do anything to keep jobs in the United States. 
 
 “I don’t see it,” James said. “I don’t think this is something that benefits the people.” 
 
 Trump’s visit to Indiana is his first since going in December to announce a deal with Carrier Corp. — a company he talked about frequently on the campaign trail — to keep some jobs in Indiana instead of moving them to Mexico. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Democrats oppose GOP tax framework, but can they stop it? 
 
 Indiana is the 25th state President Trump has visited since taking office 
 
 3 Indiana businessmen to help Trump make his case for tax reform package 
 
 Trump chose Indiana for Wednesday’s speech in part to talk about the state’s record of cutting taxes under then-governor Mike Pence, who is now his vice president. 
 
 "Indiana is a tremendous example of the prosperity that is unleashed when we cut taxes and set free the dreams of our citizens,” Trump said. 
 
 Since 2011, Indiana has eliminated the inheritance tax, cut corporate and financial institution taxes and reduced the flat personal income tax by 5%. 
 
 "It’s the Hoosier Way, and we’re about to take it national,” said Indiana GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer. 
 
 While conservatives have praised the cuts, some economists have seen them and the subsequent increase in Indiana's gas tax as a shift of the tax burden to Indiana's middle class. 
 
 Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody said Wednesday the “historic” tax relief Pence promised Hoosiers “only added up to a paltry $50 per household last year — barely enough for one tank of gas.” 
 
 Trump highlighted how the proposal would benefit individual Hoosiers, including Kip Tom, a seventh-generation farmer who was on Trump’s agriculture advisory committee. The Tom family claims that under current estate taxes, they may have to sell off a significant amount of assets in order to pass the business to the next generation. 
 
 "Now if you don’t like your family, it won’t matter," Trump said about repealing what he called the "crushing, horrible, unfair" estate tax. "But for those that love your family, it matters a lot." 
 
 Democrats say repealing the estate tax is one of the several ways the tax overhaul would benefit the wealthy, pointing out that it only affects the small portion of estates worth more than $5.5 million. 
 
 National polls show tax reform isn’t a high priority for many Americans. Only 12% of adults surveyed this month for CNN said changing federal tax law should be Congress' highest priority over the next few weeks. But most said the code either needs a complete overhaul or major changes. 
 
 The Pew Research Center has found in recent years that most Americans think they’re paying about the right amount of taxes. Their top frustration is that some corporations and the wealthy don’t pay their fair share. 
 
 Contributing: Herb Jackson, Heidi Pryzbyla, Kaitlin Lange and Tony Cook. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2xC0keX ||||| (CNN) President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a Republican framework for tax reform that calls for sweeping tax cuts and a simplification of the tax code, framing the effort in a speech as a historic opportunity. 
 
 "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and I guess it's probably something I could say that I'm very good at," Trump said during remarks in Indiana. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. We're going to cut taxes for the middle class, make the tax code simpler and more fair for everyday Americans. And we are going to bring back the jobs and wealth that have left our country and most people thought left our country for good." 
 
 Trump in recent weeks has sought to crank up public pressure on the need for sweeping tax reform. In Indianapolis, he offered specific numbers to back up his calls for the biggest changes to the tax code in decades. 
 
 He called for reducing the personal income tax brackets from seven to three (12%, 25% and 35%), doubling the standard deduction for married and single filers (to $24,000 and $12,000 respectively), slashing the corporate tax rate to 20% and eliminating the estate tax -- among other proposals. 
 
 Trump sought to give the Republican-crafted framework a populist touch, framing the tax reform proposal as a boon for the middle class, American workers and American manufacturing. 
 
 The President said his tax cut proposal wouldn't help the country's wealthiest taxpayers, like himself, as he promised to strip away tax breaks and loopholes. 
 
 "It's not good for me, believe me," Trump said. 
 
 The claim was impossible to verify, though, as Trump has refused to release his tax returns. Trump is the first president in four decades not to do so. 
 
 Trump said that while wealthy, "well-connected" people could "call me all they want, it's not going to help," saying he was "doing the right thing." 
 
 The President's tax reform framework proposes cutting the top income tax bracket from 39.5% to 35%, though the plan gives congressional committees latitude to create a fourth, higher income tax bracket. 
 
 While Trump claimed parts of his tax proposal would hurt his wallet, he seemed sure the plan would bolster his popularity. 
 
 "What is good for me, not only as President and legacy, what is good for me is if everything takes off like a rocket ship," Trump said. "Like it should have for 20 years. That's good for me. That's good for everyone. And that's what I think is going to happen. And a lot of very wealthy people feel the same way, believe me." 
 
 Still, while the President focused on the benefits the tax proposal would deliver to middle class Americans, he made clear it would also be a boon for big business. 
 
 Beyond slashing the corporate tax rate to "no higher than 20%," Trump's proposal also offers write-offs for companies that move their manufacturing plants to the US and would incentivize the repatriation of "trillions" of dollars in US companies' profits stashed in tax havens overseas. 
 
 "Our framework will stop punishing companies for keeping their headquarters in the United States. We're punishing companies under our codes for being in the United States," Trump said. "When our companies move to other countries it's our loyal American workers who get hurt." 
 
 Trump said his business-friendly policies would lead to increased wages and economic gains in the US. The GOP framework would also cap the tax rate for small businesses at 25%, Trump said. 
 
 The framework is the result of months of closed-door discussions between top Trump administration officials and Republican congressional leaders, but Trump has signaled in recent weeks that he is hoping to win some Democratic support for his proposal. 
 
 Trump's trek to Indiana on Wednesday was the third time he has pitched tax reform in a red state that is home to a vulnerable Democratic senator, this time Sen. Joe Donnelly, who joined Trump for the speech. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Trump: I'm very good at cutting taxes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump: I'm very good at cutting taxes 01:09 
 
 Trump took the opportunity to turn up the heat on Donnelly, who is up for reelection in 2018, warning him to support tax reform, or else. 
 
 "If Sen. Donnelly doesn't approve it -- because you know he's on the other side -- we will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldn't believe," Trump said, pointing at Donnelly in the audience before suddenly offering a wide grin. "I think they're going to approve it, I think we'll have, actually I think we'll have numerous Democrats come across, because it's the right thing to do." 
 
 Trump added that "tax reform has not historically been a bipartisan issue," drawing on the example of the Reagan tax cuts which were passed with significant Democratic support as he said he hoped Democrats would join in supporting the reform effort. 
 
 Donnelly, who traveled with the President to his Indianapolis event said the framework is missing details. 
 
 "As it stands, the framework released today is missing many details that will be critical to determining whether working- and middle-class families truly stand to benefit," he said in a statement following the speech. 
 
 "I work for Hoosiers, not President Trump or any political party," he added. 
 
 Trump drew on the stories of ordinary Americans as he made his pitch, referring to a seventh-generation farmer to call for a repeal of the estate tax, drawing on the story of a small business owner as he calls for tax cuts and pulling from the experiences of an IT worker whom Trump said has seen firsthand the damage of the US' high corporate tax rate. 
 
 The GOP proposal, being presented jointly by the White House, House Ways & Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee, calls for reducing income tax rates to three brackets of 12%, 25% and 35%, but leaves the income ranges for those brackets up to tax committees, according to a copy of the Republican framework obtained by CNN. The proposal also gives committees the flexibility to create a fourth bracket that could potentially eliminate a potential tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. 
 
 The proposals also calls for doubling the standard deduction to $24,000 for married couples and $12,000 for single filers. 
 
 The framework also calls for slashing the corporate tax rate to 20%, though Trump has for months said he would like to see the 35% rate brought down to 15%. Trump sought to justify the shift on Wednesday, saying that he only floated 15% as a negotiating tactic. 
 
 "I wanted to start at 15 to get there," Trump said. 
 
 Trump's push on tax reform comes on the heels of his latest in a string of stinging defeats on health care reform, with Senate Republicans repeatedly failing to string together 50 votes to replace Obamacare. 
 
 The White House is now aiming to push tax reform through Congress by the end of the year.
– President Trump launched his push for tax reform Wednesday in Indianapolis, promising a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" and "revolutionary change." "Under our framework, we will dramatically cut the business tax rate so that American companies and American workers can beat our foreign competitors and start winning again," USA Today quotes Trump as saying. The New York Times reports the proposed framework reduces the corporate tax rate to 20%, doubles deductions for married and single filers to $24,000 and $12,000 respectively, and reduces the number of tax brackets from seven to three. The top bracket would see a reduced tax rate; the lowest bracket would see an increased tax rate. Overall, Trump claims the plan represents the biggest tax cut in history: "There's never been tax cuts like we're talking about." Trump is promising the middle class will be "the biggest winners" of his tax plan, which will cause "jobs to start pouring into our country." But the framework presented lacks details to show whether that would or would not be the case. (CNN reports Trump also claims the plan is "not good for me," but that's impossible to prove without his tax returns.) The framework does, however, include details that will specifically benefit rich Americans, for example by getting rid of inheritance taxes paid by the country's wealthiest families. Without further specifics, the head of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calls Trump's tax plan "nothing more than a fiscal fantasy." Trump says he wants to work with Democrats to fill in those details, but Republican leaders say they'll likely use a special rule to pass tax reform without Democratic support.