Nearly Two-Thirds of US Voters Back Corporate Tax Hike to Fund Biden Infrastructure Plan

Roundly rejecting Republican and conservative Democratic lawmakers who oppose President Joe Biden's proposed corporate tax increase to fund the American Jobs Plan, a poll published Wednesday revealed nearly two-thirds of U.S. voters favor higher taxes on businesses to pay for the administration's $2.25 trillion infrastructure and employment legislative proposal.

"On a broad level, nearly three-quarters of voters agree that corporations should pay higher taxes, including 85% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans."
—Morning Consult

Morning Consult pollsters surveyed nearly 2,000 registered voters and found that 65% of respondents somewhat or strongly support funding the American Jobs Plan (AJP) through 15 years of higher corporate taxes, compared with just 21% who somewhat or strongly oppose the move. 

Among Democratic voters, 85% support—62% of them strongly—the tax hike, with only 15% against the increase. Sixty percent of independents and 42% of Republicans favor funding the AJP through higher corporate taxes, with 47% GOP voters opposing the proposed policy.

"On a broad level, nearly three-quarters of voters agree that corporations should pay higher taxes, including 85% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans," said Morning Consult. 

According to an analysis published Wednesday by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, Biden's proposal—under which the corporate tax rate would rise from 21% to 28%—would increase government revenue by $891.6 billion between 2022 and 2031, and by nearly $1.49 trillion between 2022 and 2036. 

The Wharton analysts further forecast that overall, the AJP would generate $2.1 trillion in tax revenue, while spending $2.7 trillion, between 2021 and 2030. The higher corporate tax rate, combined with improved U.S. infrastructure, is expected to decrease the nation's debt by 6.4% and its GDP by 0.8% in 2050. 

A separate poll published Tuesday by Invest in America and Data for Progress found that a bipartisan majority of U.S. voters—73% overall, 93% of Democrats, 67% of independents, and 57% of Republicans—support the AJP in general.  

The Morning Consult poll found even higher overall support for the plan when the proposed corporate tax hike is withdrawn, with approval rising to 83% among all voters. 

While support for the AJP's corporate tax increase is strongest among progressives—whose biggest complaint about the plan is that it doesn't do enough—prominent capitalists and financial institutions have also said they favor the measure.

On Wednesday, International Monetary Fund officials endorsed Biden's proposal, with Vitor Gaspar, the organization's fiscal affairs director, telling reporters that "the IMF has been calling for a minimum global corporate income tax rate as a way to interrupt the race to the bottom in corporate income taxation."

Jeff Bezos, the outgoing CEO of Amazon and the world's wealthiest person, said Tuesday that "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," adding, "we're supportive of a rise in the corporate tax rate." 

On the other hand, Republicans in Congress and conservative Democrats—led by Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.)—strongly oppose the corporate tax increase component of the AJP.