Amazon CEO Bezos, stung by wide criticism, endorses U.S. corporate tax hike (updated)
06/04/2021 23:49
(Adds details, no immediate White House comment)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O
supports a hike in the U.S. corporate tax rate as part of an
infrastructure overhaul, Jeff Bezos, chief executive of the
largest U.S. retailer, said on Tuesday after facing withering
criticism from the White House, Congress and on social media.
"We support the Biden Administration’s focus on making bold
investments in American infrastructure," Bezos said in a blog
post. "We recognize this investment will require concessions
from all sides — both on the specifics of what’s included as
well as how it gets paid for (we’re supportive of a rise in the
corporate tax rate)."
The largest online U.S. retailer, which has been widely
criticized in recent years for paying little or no U.S. federal
income tax, did not endorse raising rates to a specific figure.
The White House did not immediately comment.
Biden’s infrastructure plan proposes increasing the
corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and would revise the tax code
to close loopholes that allow companies to move profits overseas
Biden said last week Amazon was one of 91 Fortune 500
companies that "use various loopholes where they pay not a
single solitary penny in federal income tax," in sharp contrast
to middle class families paying over 20% tax rates.
Bezos is stepping down from the CEO role during third
quarter of 2021.
After paying no federal income tax in 2017 or 2018, Amazon
reported a $162 million current U.S. federal tax liability for
2019 and $1.835 billion U.S. federal tax liability for 2020.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, and Republican lawmakers
cut the corporate rate to 21% in 2017 from 35%. Trump repeatedly
promised to tackle the nation’s crumbling infrastructure during
his presidency but never delivered on that.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business
group, last month called Biden’s proposed hike in corporate
taxes “dangerously misguided” and warned it would “slow the
economic recovery and make the U.S. less competitive globally."
In June 2019, Biden named Amazon and said no company making
billions in profits should pay a lower tax rate than
firefighters and teachers.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and
David Gregorio)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))