In talks today with Senate Republicans, the president sought support for a plan to suspend payroll taxes for the remainder of the year to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus. 

Payroll taxes are levied at 12.4 percent on up to $137,700 of wage income and are divided evenly between employer and employee at 6.2 percent. This funds Social Security. An additional 2.9 percent wage tax, again equally divided between employer and employee, funds Medicare. The details have not been officially disclosed, but presumably the president wants to zero out both temporarily.

The president also reportedly pitched support for federal assistance to employers to fund paid sick leave and other targeted tax relief for industries especially hard hit by the coronavirus. ​

It's not clear how much support there is in Congress for a payroll tax holiday. 

Democrats are arguing for more targeted tax relief that also helps those who may have seen their work hours reduced or eliminated altogether. Asked by reporters today specifically about the payroll tax cut, the president said only that it is "one of the things we talked about," adding that there is great unity among GOP senators.

In the House, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) today asked the Internal Revenue Service to consider a possible delay in the April 15th tax-filing deadline. His letter to Commissioner Charles Rettig is posted here.

​The full text of the president's remarks after his meeting on Capitol Hill is posted here.

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