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Thursday, May 6, 2021

Biden willing to accept 25% corporate tax rate to fund spending

 U.S. President Joe Biden said a corporate tax rate between 25% and 28% could help pay for badly needed infrastructure, suggesting he could accept a lower rate than what he has proposed in his search for Republican support for the funding.

"The way I can pay for this, is making sure that the largest companies don't pay zero, and reducing the (2017 corporate) tax cut to between 25 and 28" percent, Biden said during a visit to Lake Charles, Louisiana.

In his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, the Democratic president initially proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Tax experts and congressional aides told Reuters in April that a 25% rate would be a likely compromise.

"What I'm proposing is badly needed" and will be paid for, Biden said.

"Trickle-down ain't working very well," he said, referring to the theory that helping businesses and the wealthy will benefit those further down the economic ladder. "We've got to build from the bottom up and the middle out."

The U.S. corporate tax rate dropped to 21% from 35% after the 2017 tax cut pushed by then-President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans, but many big U.S. companies pay much less.

Increasing what companies pay into the more than $4 trillion federal budget is an important part of Biden’s plan to restructure the U.S. economy to reduce inequality and to try to counter China’s rise.

Biden's stop in Lake Charles was part of his "Getting America Back on Track Tour" to promote a $2.25 trillion infrastructure spending plan and a $1.8 billion education and childcare proposal.


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