President Joe Biden has proposed a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent, and increased Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding, as a way to pay for an infrastructure package that he is negotiating with Republicans, according to the White House.
“The book minimum (15 percent) was in the president’s American Jobs plan proposal as a proposed ‘pay for,’” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told a reporter. “It was also in our budget. So, this is not a new idea. This is a component of what he’s proposed as a ‘pay for’ that he’s lifting up as a question as to whether they (Republicans) could agree to that because it certainly doesn’t violate anything about the 2017 taxes.”
The U.S. Department of the Treasury also discussed the global corporate minimum tax rate during a recent meeting with G-20 leaders.
“Treasury proposed to the Steering Group that the global minimum tax rate should be at least 15%,” the Treasury Department wrote. “Treasury underscored that 15% is a floor and that discussions should continue to be ambitious and push that rate higher.”
Sen. Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.) has been leading a group of senators in negotiations with the White House on a scaled-down infrastructure package, reducing the cost from close to $2 trillion to $1 trillion and trying to come to an agreement about how to pay for the package.
The Biden administration says it will be able to bring in $700 billion through increased tax enforcement from the IRS, a suggestion that some Republicans are open to.
“Also (the president) talked, of course, about the benefit of tax enforcement and how that could be a revenue raiser,” said Psaki about Biden’s negotiations with the GOP senators.
“I will note that this has been a good discussion, and good ongoing discussion, where we’re working to find areas of agreement. We also feel there are a number of paths forward. Next week the House is going to be marking up the American jobs plan,” Psaki said, adding that “the president looking forward to engaging Senator Capito tomorrow.”
BY MASOOMA HAQ
