Joe Biden Proposes Minimum 15 Percent Corporate Tax for Companies That Pay No Federal Taxes

President Joe Biden proposed a major concession on paying for an infrastructure bill according to a new report on details of private negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans.

The Washington Post reports that Biden would not raise the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and instead propose a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent — for companies like Amazon that pay little to nothing in federal taxes.

Republicans have refused to budge on any of Biden’s widespread tax hikes on corporations to pay for his infrastructure bill, but a bill more narrowly focused on global corporations who enjoy widespread tax advantages may appeal to some of the more populist Republicans in the Senate.

Corporations are likely to oppose the idea, and will lean heavily on their political influence operations in Congress to kill the proposal.

The White House said Biden and Senate Republicans would reconvene Friday, as the president spent Thursday celebrating First Lady Jill Biden’s 70th birthday.

Biden previously expressed outrage in March that 91 of the Fortune 500 companies paid little-to-no federal taxes during a speech in Pittsburgh about infrastructure.

“In 2019, an independent analysis found that are 91 — let me say it again, 91 Fortune 500 companies — the biggest companies in the world, including Amazon — they used various loopholes so they’d pay not a single solitary penny in federal income tax,” Biden said. “I don’t want to punish them, but that’s just wrong. That’s just wrong. A fireman and a teacher paying 22 percent? Amazon and 90 other major corporations are paying zero in federal taxes?”