Amazon, Facebook, Google, and other tech giants founded a new tech industry group called Chamber of Progress. This group announced its support for a corporate tax hike like the one President Joe Biden proposed to fund his $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Adam Kovacevich is the founder and current CEO of the Chamber of Progress stressed the importance of this plan.
This decision sets a Chamber of Progress apart from other business associations that have opposed Biden’s tax hike. The Business Roundtable as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are not willing to support Biden’s position. The tax increase will have a serious impact on many companies and it is hard to blame them.
The decision made by this tech group sends a signal that the industry is open to higher tax rates and supports greater infrastructure investment. Its decision comes at a time when the tech industry faces the threat of higher taxation from abroad.
Chamber of Progress is a relatively new tech group and it represents an industry coalition focused on a range of issues. This group aims to create a social safety net and it wants to reduce income inequality.
Important companies such as Automattic, Doordash, Twitter, Uber, and others are also partners that support the Chamber of Progress. The group stated that partners do not sit on its board of directors or vote on its policies.
Tech industry group and Joe Biden
President Joe Biden proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% to help fund his American Jobs Plan. His plan includes infrastructure proposals that span the entire economy. Biden wants to expand broadband availability, which is key to the success of internet businesses.
This tech industry group did not identify a specific rate at which it believes corporate taxes should be set. Hopefully, Joe Biden indicated openness when it comes to negotiating the details of his infrastructure plan. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos supports a tax hike, but he did not endorse the 28% rate outright.
Joe Biden previously singled out the company founded by Bezos for its historically low federal income tax payments. Amazon benefits from a variety of tax credits and deductions. The tech giant paid $162 million in federal income taxes in 2019 after two years of paying $0 despite the fact that Amazon makes a lot of money. The Seattle-based company reported total revenue last year of $386 billion.
