WH defends corporate taxes to pay for Biden’s infrastructure package

The White House said on Thursday that the administration believed companies that benefited from former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 could “bear the brunt” of paying for the nearly $ 2 trillion infrastructure package. dollars from President Biden, despite the strain of continued lockdowns over the past year.

Asked about the comments of Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy in opposition to the president’s plan that Republicans support infrastructure but not the taxes that flow from it, press secretary Jen Psaki said companies could handle the proposed 7 percentage point hike in the corporate tax rate.

“We think businesses should be able to bear the brunt of investing in American workers, but they can pitch their ideas,” she said of Republicans in Congress.

“We think we can start from a point where we agree,” she said.

But pressed to find out whether it made sense to place a burden on U.S. businesses that have already struggled with the coronavirus economic downturn, Psaki claimed they “could afford to help but rebuild our workforce. And “ensuring that infrastructure makes us competitive with China.”

“This is exactly why we shouldn’t be raising taxes on the American people, the people who earn less than $ 400,000 a year,” Psaki said. “But we shouldn’t be putting user fees in place because people are still trying to get through this time.”

“Companies whose tax rate has been lowered to 21%, which is significantly lower than it has ever been in history, companies which did not pay taxes in 2018” , she continued.

“We believe they can afford to help but rebuild our workforce, help invest in industries of the future, and ensure that infrastructure makes us competitive with China.”

Biden rolled out his infrastructure and jobs plan in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh that proposed huge spending on roads, railways and airports, electric vehicles and broadband that would be paid in taxes on people. businesses and individuals.

“The rest of the world is getting closer and closer. We cannot allow this to continue, ”Biden said during his speech.

The president said dropping the corporate rate to 28% from 21% would still mean they have the lowest rate anytime between World War II and 2017, when it was cut by Trump by 35%.

It also proposes a minimum tax of 15% on corporate profits reported to investors so that deductions do not reduce payments, as well as taxing corporate profits abroad.