Yellen calls for nations to adopt minimum global corporate tax
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday urged the adoption of a minimum global corporate income tax, an effort to at least partially offset any disadvantages that might arise from the Biden administration’s proposed increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate.
Citing a “30-year race to the bottom” in which countries have slashed corporate tax rates in an effort to attract multinational businesses, Yellen said the Biden administration would work with other advanced economies in the Group of 20 to set a minimum.
“Competitiveness is about more than how U.S.-headquartered companies fare against other companies in global merger and acquisition bids,” Yellen said in a virtual speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “It is about making sure that governments have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods.”
The speech was Yellen’s highest-profile so far on international affairs, and came just as the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund began in a virtual format.
“It is important to work with other countries to end the pressures of tax competition and corporate tax base erosion,” Yellen said.
President Joe Biden has proposed hiking the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, partially undoing the Trump administration’s
cut from 35% in its 2017 tax legislation. Biden also wants to set a minimum U.S. tax on overseas corporate income. The increase would help pay for the White House’s ambitious $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal.
Also on Monday, Biden said he is “not at all” concerned that a higher corporate tax rate would cause some U.S. companies to relocate overseas, though Yellen’s proposed global minimum corporate tax is intended to prevent that from happening.
“There’s no evidence to that … that’s bizarre,”
Biden said in response to a question from reporters.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said that Yellen’s proposal was unlikely to make much progress overseas. He also said Republicans should reverse any corporate tax hike if they regain a congressional majority in upcoming elections.
“Spoiler alert: This effort will likely fail and even if there is some sort of agreement, it will be non-binding because it is not a treaty,” Toomey said.