Experts say Biden’s plan would increase revenue during a time when it is drastically needed.
President Joe Biden’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations, though receiving considerable pushback from Republican lawmakers, will actually benefit Americans as a whole by curbing economic inequity and offsetting the economic harm done by the COVID-19 pandemic, economists say.
Various outlets reported this week that Biden is planning a new tax policy proposal that would represent the most significant raise in federal income taxes in nearly three decades.
According to Bloomberg, the plan will be similar to those Biden proposed during his 2020 campaign.
Despite Republican claims, Biden’s proposal would not raise taxes on middle- or low-income Americans. Rather, the it would raise the rate of income tax for Americans making over $400,000, and increase the corporate tax from 21% to 28%. It would also expand estate taxes and raise the capital gains tax rate, which would affect only those individuals making $1 million or more a year.
Experts say Biden’s plan would increase revenue during a time when it is drastically needed.
Heather Boushey, a White House economist, told Bloomberg this week that people making less than $400,000 would not see an increase in taxes. She said increased revenue would be gained from “folks at the top who’ve been able to benefit from this economy and haven’t been this hard hit.”
“There’s a lot of room to think about what kinds of revenue we can raise,” she said.
Economists also say raising taxes on the wealthy could offset the harm done by COVID-19 to low-income Americans. Employment is up 1% for those making over $60,000, and the wealthy actually saw their financial assets, such as stocks and real estate, increase in value during the pandemic.
Ernie Tedeschi, who serves as a policy economist at the investment company Evercore ISI, told CNBC that it would be a wise policy move to tax the wealthiest Americans to offset the harm caused by the pandemic.
“It makes sense for this emergency to use progressive taxes as a way to fill in [budget] gaps,” Tedeschi said.
Sarah Bianchi, Evercore’s head of U.S. public policy, who once served as an economic aide to Biden, told Bloomberg one of the goals of the president’s proposed tax policy will be to address wealth inequity in the United States.
“His whole outlook has always been that Americans believe tax policy needs to be fair, and he has viewed all of his policy options through that lens,” Bianchi said. “That is why the focus is on addressing the unequal treatment between work and wealth.”
https://americanindependent.com/president-joe-biden-increase-taxes-wealthy-corporations-revenue/