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Payroll Tax Cut May Be Permanent, Trump Says

Trump signed an executive order to provide a payroll tax holiday to Americans earning less than $100,000 per year after US lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on the next coronavirus relief bill.
Sputnik

President Donald Trump has said that a permanent cut to the payroll tax is possible, adding that it would not affect social security because reimbursements would be made through the general fund.

Earlier, the US president vowed to make permanent cuts to the payroll tax if re-elected in November.

Trump announced he signed four actions to extend COVID-19 relief measures for Americans at a press conference on Saturday evening. He said that his administration had been working round the clock to agree on a package.

The actions provide a payroll tax holiday to Americans earning less than $100,000 per year, grant $400 per week in expanded benefits to those unemployed, protect people from eviction and extend relief to student loan borrowers.

The weekly unemployment benefit expired last week but Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on whether it should remain at $600 per person or be cut.

Trump has argued that the Democrats' bill has nothing to do with the coronavirus and accused House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of holding the "vital assistance" hostage.

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