In current discussions of President Joe Biden’s proposed legislation, GOP lawmakers have pronounced any corporate tax increase beyond 21 percent as their non-negotiable red line. But how about actually making it closer to a real 21 percent?
Personal income tax law includes an Alternative Minimum Tax to at least partially ensure that wealthier people pay a fairer amount. How about similar treatment for those corporations that now pay little or nothing in spite of big profits? In short, let’s adopt a Corporate AMT — perhaps 18 to 20 percent. Surely that could provide at least a partial “pay-for” Biden wants for infrastructure projects in lieu of the GOP’s preferred “user fees” (re: tolls, gas tax hikes, and utility surcharges). User fees, of course, will functionally “tax” lower-income earners disproportionately. Or does the GOP prefer to defend the 0 percent rate for corporations as fair?