After businesses, Joe Biden wants to raise taxes for the very rich in the United States

With each plan, its tax increase. Joe Biden’s infrastructure program ($ 2.3 trillion, € 1,903 billion) is to be financed by the corporate tax hike, which would go from 21% to 28%, while the levy on foreign affiliates would double to 21%. The plan to help children and educate $ 1.8 trillion announced before Congress on Wednesday, April 28, must be accompanied by an increase in the federal marginal tax rate on income of 37 % to 39.6%, which would return to the level it had under Barack Obama.

The Biden administration notes that this change would affect only the richest 1% of American households. These measures have a serious chance of being passed, given that a simple majority in the Senate, available to Democrats thanks to the decisive voice of Vice President Kamala Harris, is sufficient.

Article reserved for our subscribers Read also Joe Biden in the White House, a quiet president and reformer

Simple throwback, four years back, or a real shift in favor of a tax hike? The finding is difficult to establish and will undoubtedly depend on the dynamics that will follow. President Biden announces these measures in a context where there is more talk of social justice than of balanced budgets, this concern being relegated to the background by economists, the American central bank (Fed) and most politicians. It is undoubtedly having a powerful effect on the debate in Europe.

Article reserved for our subscribers Read also French economists and politicians won over by “Biden-mania”

Removed tax loopholes

This is not a tax “big night”: the reform does not target unrealized capital gains, the non-taxation of which is at the origin of the colossal fortunes accumulated by the bosses of Silicon Valley and Wall Street . It does not introduce wealth tax, which would be a way to plan the wealth of billionaires. It does not concern Americans earning less than $ 400,000 per year (apparently high figure, but not comparable with France, because with this salary you have to pay for education, retirement and health). It targets the richest 1%, not the top 500 billionaires Forbes.

However, several indices show a significant change of course. First, the increase (which concerns individuals earning more than 524,600 dollars per year and couples earning 628,300 dollars) is combined with that of states and cities. In New York, the maximum state and city income tax over $ 1 million will range from 13.5% to 14.8%. In total, taxation may reach 54.4% of marginal revenue.

You have 49.86% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.