FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, after his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States, U.S., January 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
President Joe Biden has defended on Monday, his proposal to increase corporate taxes.
According to the US President, it will help pay for a big boost in U.S. infrastructure spending, adding that he is not at all worried the tax hike would harm the economy.
Speaking in Washington on Monday at the presidential Camp David retreat in Maryland, he said there was “no evidence” his proposed corporate tax increase would drive companies away from the United States.
When asked if increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% would drive away corporations, Biden said, “Not at all … there’s no evidence of that.”
The president has taken aim at the 50 or 51 corporations on the Fortune 500 list that paid no taxes at all for three years, saying it was time for them to pay their share.
Immediate past president of America, Donald Trump, and Republican lawmakers cut the corporate rate from 35% to 21% in 2017. Trump repeatedly promised to tackle the nation’s crumbling infrastructure during his presidency but never delivered on that.
Energy Secretary ,Jennifer Granholm on Sunday said Biden would prefer to secure Republican backing for his plan, but if that fail to happen, he would likely support using a procedural strategy called reconciliation to allow Democrats to pass it in the Senate.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said last week that Biden’s infrastructure plan was “bold and audacious” but would raise taxes and increase debt. He vowed to fight it “every step of the way.”
Biden said other countries were investing billions and billions of dollars in infrastructure, and the United States needed to do so to boost its competitiveness.
