I hope you saw my latest weekly column.

ROGER WICKER: Biden Proposal Would Raise Taxes, Trigger More Inflation

As the annual tax filing deadline arrives, Americans should take heart that President Biden’s massive tax hikes have not become law. His “Build Back Better” plan, unveiled a year ago, would have imposed the largest tax increase in over 50 years, hitting American workers, families, and job creators during a time of economic uncertainty. Thankfully, a handful of Democrat Senators joined with Republicans to reject the plan, preserving the Republican tax cuts for another year.

Despite this setback, the President is refusing to abandon his partisan tax agenda. His latest budget proposal includes the same avalanche of tax hikes he proposed last year and then some. His plan is a recipe for more inflation and an economic recession.

Biden Pushes 36 Tax Increases

President Biden’s budget would impose a wave of 36 tax increases costing $2.5 trillion. It would raise taxes on job creators from 21 percent to 28 percent, making our nation less globally competitive and weakening American industries. In addition, the President’s plan would tax investment gains before they are even realized, which has never been tried and does not even make sense. As Democrat Senator Joe Manchin put it, “You can’t be taxed on things you don’t have.” The left-leaning Tax Policy Center said the President’s plan “won’t work” and is “ripe for abuse.”

President Biden says his tax increases are aimed at corporations and millionaires, but they would in fact fall hard on everyone. His plan would drain U.S. industries of crucial investment, hurting job creation and wage growth for workers. In fact, those who would benefit most are blue-state millionaires, who would receive a huge deduction for state and local taxes. Even Senator Bernie Sanders has questioned this special giveaway.

President Ignores Inflation Threat

Most troubling of all, the President’s plan makes no real effort to address the inflation that is eating up household incomes and savings. It is now widely acknowledged that President Biden’s heavy spending is largely responsible for our inflation crisis. Yet his budget would spend $5.8 trillion, just shy of last year’s record $6 trillion. Until he shows he is willing to rein in spending, his rhetoric on inflation will ring hollow.

Inflation is a hidden tax on every American. Anyone who buys gasoline or groceries knows it is the biggest issue facing our economy. With prices up 8.5 percent over the past year, Bloomberg estimates families will have to spend an extra $5,200 for the same goods they purchased last year. This is hardly the recovery President Biden promised. It now falls to Congress to get control of spending so that inflation can have a chance to settle down.

IRS Logjam Delays Tax Relief

With inflation hurting family budgets, it is important that Americans receive their tax refunds on time. Unfortunately, the IRS is still backlogged after extensive pandemic delays and does not expect to finish processing returns until the end of the year. This is unacceptable. In this economy, Americans cannot afford to wait months to receive their own money back from the government. One big problem is that most IRS employees are still working remotely, which has slowed down their work. To fix this, I am leading a bipartisan bill in the Senate to require all federal employees to return to the office. Americans deserve full service from government workers as we endure more uncertainty under President Biden.

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Thank you for your support,

Senator Roger Wicker