Trump signs package of tax cuts into law ahead of time

Reform is far from the largest tax cuts in American history, as the US president claims

US president Donald Trump after signing the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul plan in the Oval Office. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
US president Donald Trump after signing the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul plan in the Oval Office. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

US president Donald Trump has signed a $1.5 trillion (€1.3 trillion) tax overhaul package into law.

Mr Trump hailed the size of the tax cut, declaring to reporters in the Oval Office before he signed the measure that “the numbers will speak”.

The president said he was going to wait to sign it until after January 1st, but changed his mind.

The legislation provides generous cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans and smaller ones for the middle class and low-income families.

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It is the first major overhaul of the nation’s tax laws since 1986, but far from the largest tax cuts in American history, as the president claims.

Politically, it marks the Republicans’ first major legislative accomplishment of the Trump presidency.

According to some estimates, the cuts could add to the nation’s soaring deficit. – PA