Tax plans being proposed by the Biden administration will fund both traditional as well as more “modern” infrastructure, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday, as the president is preparing to press his case anew for his second big economic initiative.
Hours before President Joe Biden was set to speak on what the White House is calling the historic investments in his American Jobs Plan, Yellen talked up the administration’s tax proposals. They include raising the corporate income tax to 28% from 21%, encouraging global adoption of minimum taxes and incentives for clean energy production.
“The revenue generated by the tax plan will be turned into funding for both traditional infrastructure and the more modern kind needed to run a digital economy, like high-speed broadband networks,” Yellen told reporters.
The tax plan is designed to raise $ 2.5 trillion in revenue over 15 years.
Biden last week rolled out his $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which includes funds for transportation, water infrastructure and broadband projects. Speaking in Pittsburgh, Biden touched on the tax proposals and said he was open to others, as long as they don’t increase taxes on people making less than $ 400,000.
Read: Biden rolls out $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure plan: ‘It’s bold, yes, and we can get it done’
The Treasury Department on Wednesday released a 17-page report on the tax proposals.
Biden’s infrastructure plan has run into opposition from Republicans, who have criticized both elements of the spending proposals — spurring a debate over the meaning of “infrastructure” — as well as the tax increases. What’s more, a key Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has said he opposes a boost in the corporate tax rate to 28%.
Yellen, meanwhile, argues that a global minimum corporate tax rate will end what she calls a “race to the bottom” that makes it hard for the U.S. to meet its revenue needs.
Now see: Yellen pushes for a global minimum corporate tax