Bachmann Pushes for Tax Cuts

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., called for cuts in corporate taxes and the elimination of capital gains and estate taxes in a speech last weekend as she campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination.

Bachmann also urged a corporate repatriation tax holiday to allow U.S.-based multinational corporations to repatriate the profits of their foreign subsidiaries during a campaign appearance in Poinciana, Fla., according to The New York Times.

“American companies have sitting in the bank over a trillion dollars,” she said. “If we had a zero rate of repatriation, by the afternoon that trillion dollars would be back in the United States. Do you have any idea of how many jobs would be created?”

A group of multinational corporations under the umbrella of the Win America Campaign has been lobbying in Washington to allow a reduced tax rate for repatriated foreign profits, saying it would help boost jobs and the economy (see The Corporate Repatriation Tax Holiday Mirage). However, the Treasury Department has resisted the idea so far, pointing out that the last time a corporate tax holiday was tried, most of the repatriated money was spent on share buybacks and stock dividends, but little on job creation.