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Biden tells America he wants to tax the ultrarich

The president outlined his economic agenda during last night's State of the Union address

Biden tells America he wants to tax the ultrarich
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By
Sam Klebanov
4 May 2024
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In Uncle Sam’s equivalent of a yearly earnings call, President Biden outlined his plans to play hardball with the corporate jet set while helping Americans who fly economy.

During a forceful State of the Union Address last night, Biden said he wants to raise the minimum tax for multinational corporations to 21%, as well as lift the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21%. The White House said that bumping the minimum rate will make it more difficult for pharma companies and other corporate behemoths to sidestep taxes. The president also hopes to:

  • Stop letting corporations get tax deductions for all employee salaries over $1 million (the current rule applies only to C-suite pay) and make it harder for companies to write off executives’ private jet travel.

  • Raise the tax on corporate stock buybacks from 1% to 4% to encourage companies to spend more of their revenue on salaries and improving productivity.

  • Make billionaires pay a minimum of 25% income tax.

Meanwhile, for the non-mansion dwellers, Biden unveiled a scheme to boost homeownership by offering a $5,000 credit to first-time homebuyers for the first two years of their mortgage.


The anti-Trump plan

Biden’s tax plan comes as he prepares to go full campaign mode against his predecessor and likely opponent (again), Donald Trump. The ex-president slashed corporate taxes during his White House term, but those cuts are set to expire in 2025. Republicans want to renew all of those tax breaks, which would cost the government $3.5 trillion over a decade, per the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Trump hasn’t yet formulated a definitive tax plan of his own.

You’ll probably hear a lot more about taxes…as the two candidates are expected to make their contrasting views on the issue a central part of their platforms.

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