President Joe Biden is considering a tax hike to underwrite the economic program launched by the approval of his $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package, a Monday report by Bloomberg claims. The tax jump will be the first major lift in federal taxes in almost 30 years if successful.
Bloomberg quotes unidentified sources to outline the increases will back Biden’s promises made during his 2020 campaign.
An independent analysis of the Biden campaign’s tax plan conducted by the Tax Policy Center found it would raise around $2.1 trillion over 10 years, according to the report.
Tax hikes included as part of infrastructure and job packages will likely include repealing part of former President Trump‘s 2017 tax law that benefitted corporations and wealthy individuals, the news outlet notes, citing sources close to the matter.
As Breitbart News reported, Biden twice flagged his desire to raise taxes on everyone, including the middle class, during last year’s presidential debates.
“That’s why I’m going to eliminate the Trump tax cuts,” Biden said during his first of two debates with President Trump. And then, to accentuate the point, he said it again, “I’m going to eliminate those tax cuts.”
“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,” ex-Biden economic aide Sarah Bianchi told Bloomberg. “That is why the focus is on addressing the unequal treatment between work and wealth.”
Any tax increases that are passed would likely take effect beginning in 2022, according to Bloomberg, which noted some lawmakers have called for the administration to hold off as pandemic-related unemployment remains high.
Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to back the bill to move it under regular Senate rules. But GOP members are ready for a fight having been warned during the 2020 campaign Joe Biden in the White House meant the taxman cometh:
“We’ll have a big robust discussion about the appropriateness of a big tax increase,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month, predicting Democrats would pursue a reconciliation bill that forgoes the GOP and would aim for a corporate tax even higher than 28percent.