NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is seeking to raise taxes on companies, including raising the corporate tax rate, to pay for over $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, a plan that stands to ripple through Corporate America.
The “Made in America Tax Plan,” which would raise $2.5 trillion over 15 years, according to the Treasury Department, would include higher levies on companies’ overseas earnings, a new minimum tax on the profits companies report to investors and funding for more Internal Revenue Service enforcement officials.
Biden is also seeking to hike the corporate tax rate to 28%, from the 21% levy set by then-President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut. However, Biden has signaled he is open to a compromise.
Here are the broad sectors within the S&P 500 stock index as well as more specific industries that stand to be most impacted by the plan, according to estimates from UBS equity strategists.
The UBS strategists expect the tax plan could weigh 7.4% on overall S&P 500 earnings if the rate goes to 28%. The strategists note the full plan may be difficult to pass in a divided Congress, so assuming a lower 25% rate and other adjustments, they estimate a 3.6% hit to earnings.
At the 28% level, UBS calculates the following hit:
Top hit sectors
* Technology: 8.8%
* Communication services: 8.6%
* Consumer discretionary: 8.2%
* Healthcare: 7.7%
* Financials: 7.4%
Top hit industries
* Consumer durables and apparel: 10.4%
* Media and entertainment: 10.1%
* Technology, hardware and equipment: 9.8%
* Semiconductors and equipment: 9.8%
* Consumer services: 8.8% (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, Editing by Nick Zieminski)