Republicans demand Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen preserve documents on global tax proposal

Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen requesting the department preserve all documents related to the Biden administration’s push for a global minimum tax on multinational corporations.

The request by Reps. Kevin Brady of Texas and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma is part of a GOP effort to investigate the impact the tax would have on the U.S. economy.
 
Congress has yet to approve the measure, which would establish a 15% global minimum tax and work out a new method for reallocating the profits of the world’s largest corporations among countries. The 15% global minimum tax is different from the 15% minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations that Mr. Biden signed into law in August as part of his sweeping climate, tax, and healthcare proposal.
 
In their letter to Ms. Yellen, the lawmakers said documents are necessary because Congress “needs to know which companies will be affected, what jurisdictions will be losing tax rights and what jurisdictions will be gaining tax rights.”

“Congress should understand where U.S. companies may be sending profit taxing rights and it could factor into larger geopolitical considerations,” Mr. Brady and Mr. Hern said.

The lawmakers requested that Ms. Yellen turn over all documents, communications and other records relevant to the global minimum tax deal.

A spokesperson for the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Biden administration has pushed heavily for Congress to get behind the proposal, which would tax the foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies. Ms. Yellen and others say the U.S. is leaving tax revenue on the table, and this plan would help recapture it. The tax would apply to the overseas profits of multinational firms with at least $848 million in global sales.
 
Nearly 140 countries agreed to the pact at a Group of 20 meeting in the summer of 2021, but the deal was merely symbolic. Each country now awaits approval by its legislative bodies, including Congress.
 
Records preservation requests are a common move by a minority party ahead of midterms to signal their priorities if they regain control of Congress. It is also a strong tool by lawmakers ahead of subpoena requests, once they become the majority party.
 
Last week, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, requested Secretary of State Antony Blinken preserve all documents related to the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.