Founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos
Mark Ralston | AFP | fake images
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos on Tuesday voiced support for the corporate tax rate hike, but stopped short of saying he supports Chairman Joe Biden’s plan for the hike.
“We support the Biden Administration’s focus on making bold investments in American infrastructure,” Bezos said in a statement. “We recognize that this investment will require concessions from all sides, both in the specifics of what is included and how it is paid for (we support an increase in the corporate tax rate).”
Last week, Biden unveiled a more than $ 2 trillion package that outlines extensive improvements to the nation’s bridges, highways, public transportation and airports, among other transportation infrastructure. It also included investments in caring for elderly and disabled Americans, building and modernizing affordable housing, and advancing US manufacturing and job training efforts, among other goals.
To finance the package, Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. The corporate tax rate was lowered during President Donald Trump’s tenure to 21% from 35% as part of a 2017 tax law.
Bezos’s support for a tax increase is notable given that Amazon has previously faced scrutiny over its tax record, including from Biden. Last May, Biden, then a presidential candidate, told CNBC that Amazon “should start paying its taxes.”
Biden again singled out Amazon last week during a speech in Pittsburgh, criticizing the company for using “various loopholes to keep them from paying a single penny in federal income taxes.”
In response, Amazon’s chief spokesperson, Jay Carney, he said in a tweet: “If the R&D tax credit is a ‘loophole,’ it is certainly one of the intentions of Congress. The R&D tax credit has existed since 1981, was extended 15 times with bipartisan support, and made permanent 2015 into a law signed by President Obama. “
After paying $ 0 in federal income taxes for two years, Amazon paid $ 162 million in federal income taxes in 2019. The company, which benefits from a variety of tax credits and deductions, reported total income last year. of $ 386 billion.
– CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.