What will the presidential election mean for corporate taxes?

Trump promises cuts. Biden said businesses should pay their 'fair share.'

Illustration of a cake covered with a dollar bill, and a hand picking up a slice
"The Biden tax policy hasn't been some kind of radical tax-raising program"
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

The outcome of the 2024 presidential election will trigger a "colossal multi-trillion-dollar fight over taxes," said Semafor. Big chunks of Donald Trump's 2017 tax cut law will expire in 2025, giving whoever wins the election — both the White House and Congress — "the opportunity to rewrite much of the IRS code." Trump hasn't officially released a tax plan, though he recently told a gathering of CEOs that he plans new cuts to corporate taxes, while President Joe Biden has offered proposals "aimed at raising taxes on multinational corporations and the richest Americans."

It's not clear that Trump has the rest of the GOP on board to slash taxes for big business. "Anti-corporate sentiment is running high among increasingly populist-minded Republicans," said Politico. One influential Republican, Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), has even proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 25%. "There's a bubbling-up concern that we should not be doing the bidding of corporate America," Roy said. Corporate lobbyists are already rushing into the fray, with one executive saying that businesses shouldn't bear the brunt of tax increases "because those businesses are the ones that are creating jobs."

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.