Democratic congressman: ‘Major movement’ for corporate tax holiday

The congressman’s comments echo those of the Obama administration and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who have also cast doubt on whether the last repatriation holiday created jobs.

Members of the WIN America Campaign, a coalition of corporations and business groups, are calling for a similar measure to the 2004 holiday, saying it could help stimulate the economy. The previous legislation allowed corporations to bring offshore profits back into the United States at a top rate of 5.25 percent, as opposed to the top corporate tax rate of 35 percent. 

House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is among those who have backed the idea of a new holiday.

In his interview, Doggett also said some prominent corporations are “not paying their fair share,” following a “60 Minutes” report on how businesses keep billions of dollars of profits abroad. 

The Texas Democrat added that he wanted to pursue an overhaul of the corporate tax code — but also didn’t sound all that optimistic that tax reform would gain much momentum, asserting that businesses wanted to lower corporate rates while keeping many tax deductions and credits. 

“I would pursue the Reagan approach,” Doggett said. “When President Reagan signed the 1986 tax reform, he actually raised more revenue from corporations in order to reduce taxes for individuals. But these corporations think they have almost a birthright to not pay a fair share of the cost of our country.”