Taxes

Corp 'tax holiday' proposal gains momentum: WSJ

U.S. Senator Rand Paul
Brian Snyder | Reuters

A corporate "tax holiday" plan to pay for infrastructure projects is gaining momentum in the Senate with support from libertarian Sen. Rand Paul and liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer, The Wall Street Journal says.

If passed, the proposal would lower the 35 percent tax rate on multinational companies to 6.5 percent for five years, thus providing an incentive for companies to bring overseas profits to the U.S.

In addition to Paul and Boxer, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's office is helping draft the bill, the Journal said.

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Nevertheless, some believe this bill would hinder any attempt at a larger tax overhaul. "Tax holiday proposals designed to pay for the transportation bill sound great until you look at the details," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told the newspaper. "Saying you're going to use something that loses money to pay for anything is just wrong. Therefore, saying you're going to use it to pay for infrastructure is just bad policy, plain and simple."

Boxer, D-Calif., said the proposal would help create jobs in the U.S. by bringing back "billions of dollars in foreign earnings that are sitting offshore."

Neither Paul nor Boxer immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Read the full report here.