A strange response from Jeff Bezos to the Biden tax project. What did he say?

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has expressed his support for the increase in the corporate tax rate, but stops saying he supports President Joe Biden’s recovery plan.

“We support the Biden administration’s focus on making bold investments in US infrastructure,” Bezos said in a statement Tuesday.

He added: “We realize that this investment will require concessions from all parties, both in terms of the details of what has been included as well as how it will be paid,” adding: “We support a higher corporate tax rate.”

It comes as US President Joe Biden revealed a package worth over two trillion dollars last week that identified comprehensive updates to bridges, roads, public transportation and airports. of the country, among other transport infrastructure. It also included investments in caring for the elderly and Americans with special needs, building and modifying affordable housing, and improving manufacturing efforts and skills training, among many other goals.

To finance the reform package, Biden proposed to increase the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. It comes as the corporate tax rate was lowered under former President Donald Trump to 21% from 35% under the 2017 tax law.

Bezos’ support for a tax hike is a bit odd given that Amazon has already faced scrutiny of its fiscal record, including from incumbent Biden. As he told CNBC last May, while running for president, that Amazon “should start paying its taxes,” according to what Al-Arabiya saw.

Biden again singled out Amazon last week in a speech in Pittsburgh, criticizing the company for using “various loopholes so as not to pay a single dime in federal income tax.”

In response, Amazon spokesman Jay Carney said in a tweet, “If the R&D tax credit was a loophole, it really meant very tough Congress.

“The research and development tax credit has been in place since 1981, was extended 15 times with bipartisan support, and became permanent in 2015 under a law signed by President Obama,” he said. he adds.

It comes after the company previously avoided paying a son of federal income tax in the United States for two years, but paid $ 162 million in federal income tax in 2019. The company, which benefits from various tax exemptions and deductions, also reported last year’s total revenue, worth $ 386 billion.