Taxes: Democratic starting point will it trickle down?

Joe Biden “Hill”

The former vice president is one of the more moderate candidates in the race, and his tax plan would not raise taxes on the rich as much as some other candidates would. Still, Biden’s plan includes a number of tax increases for higher earners and businesses.

Biden has called for raising the top individual tax rate from 37 percent to its pre-GOP tax law level of 39.6 percent and taxing the capital gains of those with more than $1 million in income at the same rates as ordinary income. He’s also proposing to cap the value of itemized deductions at 28 percent — an idea that had also been floated by former President Obama. And Biden wants to end a tax break known as “stepped up basis” that benefits heirs.

On the corporate side, Biden has called for raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, which is lower than the pre-GOP tax law level of 35 percent but is the same rate that Obama proposed. He’s also proposing a minimum tax of 15 percent for corporations reporting more than $100 million in income on their financial statements and raising the rate for a minimum tax on foreign earnings created by Trump’s tax law from at least 10.5 percent to at least 21 percent.