President Donald Trump (Screenshot of White House video)

(CNSNews.com) - In a speech in Indianapolis, Ind., President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled his tax reform plan, which calls for lower tax rates for individuals, small businesses, and corporations as well as a larger zero tax bracket.



The president’s tax plan calls for a larger zero tax bracket, lower tax rates for individuals, lower small business tax rates, and lower corporate tax rates.



“Under this framework, the first $12,000 of income earned by a single individual will be tax free, and a married couple won’t pay a dime in taxes on their first $24,000 of income. So, a married couple -- up to $24,000 -- can spend their money on their family, on their children, on what they have to do,” Trump said.



“In other words, more income for more people will be taxed at a rate of zero. At this zero percent rate, taxable income will be subject to just three tax rates of 12 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent,” he said.



In addition to simplifying the tax code, the president plans to repeal the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and the estate or death tax.



“The AMT is actually a shadow tax system that requires many people to calculate their taxes two different ways and pay the higher of the two amounts. You're all familiar with it. Under our framework, the AMT will make even less sense because we are repealing many of the special interest tax breaks that it was designed to deal with. We are making our taxes simple again,” Trump said.



“To protect millions of small businesses and the American farmer, we are finally ending the crushing, the horrible, the unfair estate tax, or as it is often referred to, the death tax,” he announced.



“That means, especially for all of you with small businesses that are really tremendous businesses, you’ll be able to leave them to your family, and your family won’t have to run out and do a fire sale to try and get the money to pay the tax -- lose the business, ends up going out of business,” the president said.



“All of those jobs are lost. The farmers in particular are affected. They have wonderful farms, but they can't pay the tax, so they have to sell the farm. The people that buy it don't run it with love. They can't run it the same way, and it goes out. So that death tax is a disaster for this country and a disaster for so many small businesses and farmers, and we're getting rid of it,” he said.



Trump plans to “dramatically cut the business tax rate” to no higher than 20 percent “so that American companies and American workers can beat our foreign competitors and start winning again.”



“That's way down from 35 and 39 - which is substantially below the average of other industrialized nations,” he said.



Right now, the “total business tax rate is 60 percent higher than our average foreign competitor in the developed world,” the president said. “That's not good. We have surrendered our competitive edge to other countries, but we're not surrendering anymore.”



The president pointed to Indiana as an example of the prosperity that can result from lower taxes.



“Indiana is a tremendous example of the prosperity that is unleashed when we cut taxes and set free the dreams of our citizens. This state has claimed a powerful competitive edge, built on low taxes and less regulations, and are we cutting regulation,” he said.



“And businesses all across the country have taken notice. In recent years, Indiana has welcomed dozens of companies fleeing high taxes and high tax states. Thousands of new jobs and massive capital investment have followed, meaning a better quality of life for the people of Indiana,” Trump said.



“All of this is possible, because the people of this state made a decision. They chose to make Indiana competitive again. They chose, and their choice was so important. It included electing a governor, who you may have heard of, who signed the largest income tax cut in the state’s history - our very, very terrific person and terrific vice president Mike Pence,” he said.



The president also hailed the economic strides made so far during his administration.



“Unemployment is at a 16-year low. Unemployment for African-Americans is near its lowest point since the turn of the millenium. It’s really a fantastic thing to see. Wages are rising. Optimism among manufacturers has reached all-time highs. GDP growth last quarter reached 3 percent way ahead of schedule. No one thought that was going to happen for a long time,” he said.