Impact of Obama Jobs Panel’s Tax Advice Likely Limited
President Barack Obama’s corporate “Jobs Council,” a who’s who of corporate titans including General Electric chairman Jeff Immelt and luminaries from American Express and Facebook said in a report on Tuesday they recommended . . . cutting corporate tax rates.
Perhaps unsurprising, given the vast majority of the panel are corporate officers — also on the committee are union umbrella AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, and Roger Ferguson, chief executive of TIAA-CREF, one of the biggest providers of U.S. pension funds — but also unlikely to have much impact, despite the big names behind it.
The council called on lawmakers and the president to begin work “immediately” on corporate tax reform.
Obama could mention it in his State of the Union address and in his forthcoming budget, but reformers know they are several years out from a revamp of the tax code.
Arguing that the corporate tax rates in the United States —topping out at 35 percent – are way too steep, the group said trimming them would boost investments within U.S. borders. That idea has bipartisan support – including from Obama, a Democrat, and congressional Republicans.
The tricky part is the second of the council’s tax recommendations, “broadening the base” or trimming what some might call loopholes to make sure most businesses are subject to roughly equal rates of taxation.
