With the aim of repositioning a tax system that he describes as fundamentally “rigged,” Senator Bernie Sanders plans to propose two bills Thursday morning to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and remove rules that allow US companies to circumvent their obligations by moving overseas and charging a new tax on an ultra-rich goods.
Legislation will come as Sanders (I-Vt.) Will chair a Senate Budget Committee hearing on possible solutions to deep inequalities in U.S. tax law that former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party made even friendlier to the rich and large corporations in 2017 by passing the deeply unpopular law on tax cuts and jobs.
“We need a tax system that tells rich and big companies that they must finally start paying their fair share.”
– Sen. Bernie Sanders
The first of Sanders’ two bills would reverse a key element of Trump’s GOP tax bill by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 35%, where it was before the 2017 cut, according to NPR. The legislation would also “end rules that allow companies to further reduce their tax burden by offloading their activities at sea,” NPR reported Thursday morning.
The Vermont Senator’s second bill would target the increasing prosperity of the top 0.5% of US households. According to the law, NPR stated, “Those with land between $ 3.5 million and $ 10 million would be taxed 45%, the rate would increase to 50% between $ 10 and 50 million, 55% for land over $ 50 million -Dollars and 65% for real estate over $ 1 billion. “
“What we have to do in the midst of massive income and wealth inequality, when the rich get a lot richer while the middle class struggles, we need a tax system that tells rich and big corporations that they are finally going to have to pay their fair share,” Sanders told NPR in an interview. “Ultimately, we need a massive tax reform in this country so that we can close the tax loopholes and the freebies for the rich and large companies.”
Sander’s proposals come as President Joe Biden is reportedly considering tax hikes for the rich and corporations to help fund an upcoming infrastructure plan. According to the Washington Post, White House officials have discussed raising the corporate tax rate to 28% – well behind Sanders’ proposal of 35% – and raising the highest marginal tax rate for individuals from 37% to 39.6%.
As chairman of the Senate Budgets Committee, Sanders is in a position to have a significant impact on the infrastructure package, especially if the Democrats choose to lead legislation through the filibuster-safe budget voting process – which seems likely given the GOP opposition.
“The second law of reconciliation will address long-term structural problems that we had in this country long before the pandemic,” Sanders told NPR. “We need to build millions of low-income units and affordable housing. We need to address the climate change crisis and move our energy system away from fossil fuels. And when we do these things we are dealing with infrastructure, we are dealing with climate.” can indeed create many, many millions of well-paying jobs. “