FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2023
CONTACT
Carter Dougherty
carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org
(202) 251-6700
Biden Budget Puts Working People Over Wall Street
Washington, D.C. – President Biden’s recent budget proposal would bring billionaires and big corporations closer to paying their fair share in taxes. It would also disincentivize wasteful spending on stock buybacks.
“For too long, our tax system has favored Wall Street over working people,” said Natalia Renta, senior policy counsel for corporate governance and power at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. “Biden’s budget includes significant steps in the direction of a fairer tax system where wealthy individuals and big corporations pay their fair share and working people are able to benefit from the investments necessary to thrive.”
The proposed budget includes an end to the carried interest loophole, increased funds for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a billionaires tax, and an increase in the corporate tax rate.
“Closing the carried interest loophole, a tax dodge for super-rich private equity executives, is long overdue,” said Porter McConnell, Take on Wall Street campaign director at Americans for Financial Reform. “As is equipping the IRS with the resources it needs to go after corporate tax cheats and ensuring billionaires and big corporations pay closer to their fair share in taxes.”
The proposed budget also includes a 4% excise tax on stock buybacks.
“Stock buybacks line the pockets of wealthy executives with money that would be better spent on innovation, workers’ safety and wages, consumer protection, and other long-term investments necessary for sustainable and equitable economic growth,” said Renta. “President Biden is right to want to disincentivize this wasteful, harmful practice.”
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For more information, read our blog post about the need to fund the IRS to stop Wall Street tax evasion, our blog post about the harms of stock buybacks, and our fact sheets on the need to close the carried interest loophole here and here.