Biden Says His Minimum 15% Tax on Corporations Isn’t A ‘Fair Enough’ Share Of Their ‘Fair Share’

President Joe Biden told a Democrat fund-raiser Monday night that the 15 percent minimum tax on large corporations is not a “fair share” after all.

“I’m here to deliver what I believe is a closing argument about what we need to do in the next 15 days to make a victory assured,” Biden told a gathering at the  Democrat National Committee in Washington.

He said the midterm election is “not a referendum…it’s a choice.”

“Everybody wants to make it a referendum, but it’s a choice between two vastly different visions for America — significantly different.”

The president began his “closing argument” by focusing on the economy, a topic that is top of mind for a majority of voters.

He said Democrats are “fiscally responsible”; they are building an economy “where everyone does well”; and he slammed the minimum 15 percent tax rate on big corporations as “not a fair share,” after months of insisting that corporations should pay their fair share.

“Democrats are building a better America for everyone with an economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out, where everyone does well,” Biden said:

“Democrats are lowering your everyday costs like prescription drugs, healthcare premiums, energy bills, and gas prices. Folks, Republicans have made it clear — at least they’re being honest around this time; they’re telling exactly what they want to do if they win — they’re going to increase everyday cost.

“Democrats are making sure the biggest corporations begin to pay, not their fair share, but at least a bigger share than they’ve been paying. Fifteen percent is not a fair share, but it’s a bigger share.  And Republicans will allow some of the biggest corporations to go back to paying zero — zero — in federal taxes, after having made $40 billion, leaving the burden to teachers, nurses, firefighters, working folks to pay more of their fair share to keep things going.

“We, the Democrats, are the ones that are fiscally responsible. Let’s get that straight now, okay? We’re investing in all of America, reducing everyday costs while also lowering the deficit at the same time. Republicans are fiscally reckless, pushing tax cuts for the very wealthy that aren’t paid for, and exploiting [exploding] the deficit that is making inflation worse…”

Corporations pass tax hikes onto the consumers of their goods and services by raising costs.

According to the Congressional Research Service, The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (H.R. 5376), which passed the Senate on August 7, 2022, would impose a minimum tax of 15% on the adjusted financial statement income of large corporations. Corporations would pay the larger of the minimum tax or the regular tax. This tax would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022.

The corporate minimum tax is a major revenue raiser in the proposed legislation. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated it would raise $222 billion over ten years. CRS said relatively few corporations (around 150 of them) would be subject to the minimum tax each year.

President Biden has made repeated calls for big corporations to pay their fair share. For example, earlier this month, he remarked:

“[F]or the first time in a long time, we’re going to make sure the biggest corporations begin to pay their fair share of federal taxes with a minimum tax rate of 15 percent.

“In 2020, of the Fortune 500 companies, 52 made $40 billion and didn’t pay a single penny in taxes. I come from the corporate state of the world, across the border, in Delaware. I know corporations. I got elected six times there. But everybody should be paying something. Everybody should be paying something.”