Dem plan ups taxes on rich, business

WASHINGTON — House Democrats unveiled a sweeping proposal Monday for tax hikes on big corporations and the wealthy to fund President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion rebuilding plan as Congress speeds ahead to shape the farreaching package that touches almost all aspects of domestic life.

The proposed top tax rate would revert to 39.6 percent on couples earning more than $450,000, and there would be a 3 percent tax on Americans making beyond $5 million a year. For big businesses, the proposal would lift the 21 percent corporate tax rate to 26.5 percent on incomes beyond $5 million.

In all, the tax hikes are in line with Biden’s proposals and would bring about the most substantive changes in the tax code since Republicans with then-president Donald Trump slashed taxes in 2017. Business and anti-tax groups are sure to object. But Democrats are pressing forward.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-mass., the chairman of the tax-writing Ways & Means Committee, said taken together, the proposals would “expand opportunity for the American people and support our efforts to build a healthier, more prosperous future.”

It’s a daunting moment for Biden and his allies in Congress as they assemble the massive package that is destined to become one of the largest single measures considered in some time, if ever. The president’s “build back” agenda includes spending on child care, health care, education and strategies to confront climate change. It is a sweeping undertaking, on part with the Great Society or New Deal.

The White House welcomed the preliminary tax plan, which “makes significant progress towards ensuring our economy rewards work and not just wealth,” said Andrew bates, deputy press secretary.

“This meets two core goals the President laid out at the beginning of this process — it does not raise taxes on Americans earning under $400,000 and it repeals the core elements of the Trump tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations,” he said in a statement.

Pelosi is seeking a House vote by Oct. 1, near the Sept. 27 timeline for voting on a slimmer infrastructure plan favored by moderate lawmakers.