President Trump announces tax credit plan for visiting restaurants and travelling in the U.S

In remarks at a recent roundtable at The White House with leaders of the restaurant industry, President Trump announced plans to create a tax credit for Americans to use for domestic travel and to visit restaurants.

The proposed tax credit has been welcomed by the restaurant and travel industries.

The Independent Restaurant Coalition said, “We are grateful that President Trump and Congress are taking the concerns of our industry seriously and look forward to working together to ensure our businesses can survive this crisis and our employees can get back to work.”

The U.S. Travel Association said, “An ‘Explore America’ tax credit and campaign will do wonders to put America back on the path to prosperity. We applaud the president’s support.”

While the Explore America Tax Credit is still being reviewed by Congress and President Trump’s administration, the initial proposal is a tax credit of up to 50 percent of a household’s spending on expenses including airfares, car rentals, hotels, theme parks and restaurants.

The tax credit would be up to $4,000 per household and it would apply for eligible expenses in 2020 and 2021.

President Trump has also urged Congress to restore the tax deductions for business-related entertainment and meal expenses. As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, deductions for business entertainment expenses were eliminated completely and businesses were limited to claiming 50% of meal expenses.

Following the news of the Explore America Tax Credit, President Trump reiterated his support for the restaurant and entertainment industries during a White House press conference at the Rose Garden, announcing that tax incentives would be coming soon.