Biden budget proposal would raise taxes on large corporations, lower deficit over 10 years

BY BRETT SAMUELS - 03/11/24 

President Biden will unveil his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year Monday, calling for tax increases for large corporations, and for billionaires to pay a minimum 25 percent tax rate.

The president’s budget proposal for fiscal 2025 would reduce the federal deficit by about $3 trillion over a 10-year period, the White House said, largely by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and businesses. The budget would also crack down on corporate profit sharing.

A White House official said the budget would cut taxes for millions of low- and middle-income families, and it includes proposals to lower the cost of child care, prescription drugs, housing and utilities.

The budget proposal will call for reforms to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and it will contain several other White House priorities, including funding to combat climate change, for small businesses, for national paid leave and for cancer research.

The proposal will, in many ways, echo last year’s budget put forward by the White House, which would have also lowered the deficit by about $3 trillion, increased taxes on billionaires and increased the Medicare tax on individuals making more than $400,000 a year.

Budget requests typically do not become law, and Biden’s will be no exception, with the House controlled by Republicans and Democrats holding a narrow majority in the Senate.

But the request will serve as an important point in the debates this year on raising the debt ceiling and funding the government, and it will serve as a messaging tool for the White House as Biden seeks reelection.

The president, in his State of the Union address Thursday and subsequent campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Georgia over the weekend, touted his administration’s efforts to reduce deficits, scoffing at the idea that former President Trump would be able to rein in the national debt.

Biden has also committed to protecting Medicare and Social Security, which is a cornerstone of his pitch to voters, repeatedly vowing to veto any congressional proposals to cut those programs.

Trump, who will likely be Biden’s opponent in November, has said publicly he would not change Social Security and Medicare, though his budget proposals while he was in office included cuts to the programs.