Bernie Sanders Wants to Undo Trump’s Corporate Tax Cut – and Much More
Taxes

Bernie Sanders Wants to Undo Trump’s Corporate Tax Cut – and Much More

ERIC THAYER

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wants to raise the top corporate income tax to 35%, the same level it was before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered it to 21 percent.

In a sweeping collection of policy proposals released Monday, the independent senator from Vermont said he intends to repeal all tax breaks under President Trump and close all corporate tax loopholes. Together, the tax rule changes would raise $3 trillion over 10 years, Sanders said, with two-thirds of that money being used to fund a Green New Deal.

The corporate tax plan is part of a larger economic package that is intended to attack the “greed and corruption and income and wealth inequality” in the U.S., Sanders said in an interview with ABC News. Here are some of the key components of Sanders’ plan to enhance “corporate accountability and democracy”:

  • Give workers an ownership stake in their businesses. Employees at large firms would be given 20% of share in the company and control 45% of the seats on the board of directors.
  • Require “stakeholder charters” for many firms. Publicly traded companies and all those with $100 million or more in revenue or net worth will require charters, issued by a new Bureau of Corporate Governance, that recognize the interests of all stakeholders, “including workers, customers, shareholders, and the communities in which the corporation operates.”
  • Ban stock buybacks, which will be treated like stock manipulation.  
  • Create a $500 million “ownership bank” to help workers buy the businesses that employ them.
  • Share the wealth with laid-off employees. Companies that eliminate jobs due to outsourcing or automation would be required to give shares to laid-off employees.
  • Break up monopolies and reverse all mergers that have taken place since 2017.

Sanders told the Associated Press that the broad concept behind his proposals is how to “create a democratic society in which working people have more control over their lives.” He added that he plans to bring up his ideas on how he wants to change corporate taxes and governance in Tuesday’s Democratic debate, “to the degree that you can get them across in 45 seconds.”

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