House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) on Friday reportedly pledged to raise taxes if the Democrats maintain control of the House after the midterm elections.
The tax increases would include tax hikes on individuals and corporations potentially during a recession and 40-year-high inflation, Bloomberg reported. The tax hikes would reportedly be along the lines of the Ways and Means Committee’s proposal from last year.
The Democrats tried to raise taxes through President Joe Biden’s failed 2021 Build Back Better proposal. According to McDermott Will & Emery, that plan includes expanding the 3.8 percent net investment income tax, a 5-8 percent surcharge on certain taxpayers, and a 15 percent minimum tax on large corporations.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair slammed Democrats for planning to raise taxes. “After causing record-high inflation, Democrats are now promising to raise taxes even higher. Democrats never miss a chance to kick the middle-class in the teeth,” she said in an emailed statement.
On Sunday, Senate Democrats passed a tax hike on most corporations that make $1 billion or more each year. “The corporate tax provision emerged as a point of contention as senators neared a final vote on Sunday, CBS News reported, adding:
Seven Democratic senators — Sinema, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Mark Kelly and Jacky Rosen — joined Republicans in backing an amendment put forward by GOP Sen. John Thune of South Dakota that exempts some firms with private equity backing from the 15% minimum corporate tax rate.
The House is set to vote on the Senate’s proposal Friday. If the House passes the bill through a process of reconciliation, Biden will presumably sign it.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter@WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.