Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Backs Higher Corporate Tax Rate

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has come out in support of higher taxes on US companies.

Last Wednesday, the White House unveiled an infrastructure plan that included a corporate tax increase from 21% to 28% and alterations to the tax code to close loopholes allowing companies to move profits overseas.

In a speech in Pittsburgh later that day, President Biden singled out Amazon for being one of 91 Fortune 500 companies that “use various loopholes where they pay not a single solitary penny in federal income tax.”

Bezos released a statement on Tuesday in response, saying that Amazon supports the Biden administration’s investment in infrastructure.

“Both Democrats and Republicans have supported infrastructure in the past, and it’s the right time to work together to make this happen,” he wrote. “We recognise 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).”

“We look forward to Congress and the Administration coming together to find the right, balanced solution that maintains or enhances US competitiveness.”

Amazon’s position on the plan sets it apart from that of the Republican party and various business lobbies, which have argued that the tax rate increases would hurt economic growth. However, Bezos’s statement did not comment on whether or not Amazon would support the White House’s planned changes to the tax code.

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Amazon paid an effective federal income tax rate of 9.4% in 2020.

The company has long faced criticism for paying little tax, and has sparred with lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren over the rate it should be expected to pay.