Rangel Pushes Corporate Tax-Rate Cut

Rep. Charles Rangel, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has proposed a revised corporate tax structure that could lower corporate income taxes from 35% to between 30% and 31%. It would be offset by doing away with tax breaks for manufacturing in the US. The bill is unlikely to move forward this year, but the Wall Street Journal sees it as influencing debate as momentum gathers for a tax overhaul under the next president.

The Treasury and the White House both called for a lower corporate tax earlier this year, but Rangel’s proposal may still arouse GOP opposition. The bill is likely to include tax increases for private-equity managers and managers of overseas hedge funds. The corporate tax structure hasn’t changed much since a 1986 overhaul. "It has been 21 years—it's time to talk," Rangel said. (More corporate tax stories.)