Ryan: Tax bill will include bracket for high earners

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Friday that a tax bill will include a rate above 35 percent for the highest earners as House Republicans aim to introduce legislation in the coming weeks.

The tax framework Republicans released last month called for three individual rates of 12, 25 and 35 percent, but it left the door open for a fourth rate above 35 percent. Ryan said in a CBS News interview that the fourth bracket would be part of a tax measure to ensure the bill isn’t a tax cut for the wealthy.

“That’s why we’re introducing the fourth bracket, so that high-income earners do not see a big rate cut, and so that those resources go to the middle class,” he said. 

{mosads}Ryan did not specify what the rate for the fourth bracket will be. The top individual tax rate is currently 39.6 percent.

The Speaker also said that President Trump has been “very insistent” that the fourth bracket be included.

The interview came hours after the Senate approved a budget resolution that would allow Republicans to pass a tax bill with a simple majority. Ryan praised the Senate’s action.

“Our plans are in place, the train’s on the tracks and we’re rolling down the track,” he said.