White House to raise taxes on wealthy and big firms: 'Those at the top aren't doing their part'

One of President Joe Biden's campaign promises was higher taxes on the wealthy as well as large corporations. At a press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki affirmed that the administration would soon fulfill this commitment. She claimed that the President believes that "those at the top are not doing their part" and "obviously that corporations could be paying higher taxes." During his presidential campaign, Biden published several proposals that would raise taxes for the wealthy and on corporations. This would be done by reversing some of the tax cuts signed into law in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, CNN reports.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also suggested that a tax hike would be on the horizon for the wealthy and bigger corporations. She believes that the White House will, over time, put forward proposals in order to get deficits under control. She explained, "[Biden] hasn't proposed a wealth tax but he has proposed that corporations and wealthy individuals should pay more in order to meet the needs of the economy, the spending we need to do, and over time I expect that we will be putting forth proposals to get deficits under control." As per the President's campaign promises, the top federal tax rate would be increased from 37 percent to 39.6 percent. Furthermore, the corporate tax rate would rise from 21 percent to 28 percent. In addition to this, he plans to set up a 15 percent minimum book tax as well as tax increases on international profits.

The tax hike is likely to affect only those at the very top. Biden has promised not to raise taxes for those earning less than $400,000 a year, which is over 90 percent of taxpayers in the United States. Additionally, the President has made a proposal to change the way 401(k) retirement savings accounts are treated in the tax code so as to give low-income earners a bigger upfront tax breakup. According to Psaki, Biden believes "middle-class families are paying more than their fair share and those at the top are not doing their part," a view he shares with liberal Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Earlier this month, she, along with Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal and Pennsylvania Representative Brendan Boyle released the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act. The legislation would levy a "two percent annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts between $50 million and $1 billion as well as a one percent annual surtax on assets above $1 billion, for a three percent tax overall on billionaires." Senator Warren originally pitched the idea as a Presidential candidate herself, in the lead-up to last year's elections. Nonetheless, a wealth tax is "something that we haven't decided yet," the Treasury Secretary clarified. She stated, "President Biden during the campaign proposed a higher tax rate on corporations, on individuals and on payments, capital gains and dividend payments that are received, and those are alternatives that address, that are similar in their impact to a wealth tax."