As negotiations continued on a series of big-ticket federal bills last week, a PA Chamber-led coalition of local chambers and business groups sent a letter to Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, opposing business tax increases included in the Biden administration’s proposed $3.5 trillion spending bill that would have immediate negative consequences for business growth and retention in the United States.

In the letter, the coalition stresses that the most notable detractor to investment is a proposed increase in the federal Corporate Tax rate from 21 percent to 26.5 percent. When combined with Pennsylvania’s already uncompetitive CNI rate of 9.99 percent (the second highest in the nation,) this would put the rate paid by the Commonwealth’s employers at a staggering 36.49 percent – much higher than China’s rate of 25 percent and the average European Union rate of 21 percent.

A press release summarizing the coalition’s message to the Congressional delegation includes other alarming components of the tax reform proposal that are specific to Pennsylvania. This includes:

• Changes to the Global Intangible Low-Tax income tax, which would lead to higher taxes for many PA-based companies and, when combined with the federal rate, would detract investment in the Commonwealth;
• A number of significant tax increases on the pass-through business sector, which when coupled with Pennsylvania’s income tax would lead to a more than 40 percent hike on taxable income for employers statewide;
• Raising the Capital Gains Tax to 25 percent, which would affect approximately two-thirds of capital investment in the U.S. and could dampen investments in Pennsylvania start-ups and hurt Pennsylvania families as they look to retire or buy a new home.

“Pennsylvania businesses are at a critical juncture as we attempt to survive and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the signatories wrote. “We ask that you move our economy in the right direction by opposing these job-killing tax hikes that threaten to derail our economic recovery.”