Trump's suggestion to eliminate payroll tax doesn't add up

14/8/2020 12:04

        President Donald Trump's push to cut Social Security payroll taxes for the rest of the year — and even arguing for a permanent cut — would do little to bolster the coronavirus-battered economy in the short term and could destabilize long-term funding for benefits that millions of Americans depend on.
        
        Trump this week said that he could eliminate the tax if he is reelected without undercutting the retirement program or greatly adding to the deficit, arguing that economic growth would offset the revenue losses.
        
        "At the end of the year, 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," Trump told reporters on Wednesday, adding that "tremendous growth" in the U.S. will cover the costs of Social Security. "We'll be paying into Social Security through the general fund."
        
        But aides to the president on Thursday sought to walk back Trump's comments. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump meant to say he would seek forgiveness of employee payroll tax payments that he had already ordered deferred for the rest of the year.