Biden Tax Increases Won’t Hit Middle Class, Yellen Says

Republicans pressed the Treasury secretary on President Biden’s tax proposals and the fate of the Trump tax cuts that will expire in 2025.

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Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen faced sharp criticism from Republicans on Tuesday while testifying before a House committee on Capitol Hill.

The battle lines of the next big tax fight were laid out on Tuesday as Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen sparred with Republicans over the Biden administration’s plans to raise taxes on businesses and wealthy Americans.

In recent weeks, Republicans have been amplifying their attacks on President Biden’s tax proposals, which have become central to the president’s re-election message. Many provisions in the $1.7 trillion tax cut that Republican lawmakers and former President Donald J. Trump enacted in 2017 are set to expire in 2025, including lower tax rates for individuals as well as many tax breaks for corporations.

Lawmakers are girding for a legislative battle over which ones — if any — will be extended next year. Renewing all of the tax measures for another decade would cost about $3 trillion, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Republicans have begun warning that Mr. Biden plans to allow all of the tax cuts to expire, effectively raising taxes on businesses and families at a moment when inflation is pinching consumers.

“Instead of allowing families hit by these high prices to keep more of their hard-earned money, President Biden wants the highest tax increase on families and small businesses in American history,” Representative Jason Smith, Republican of Missouri and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Ms. Yellen during a hearing on Tuesday.

The president fueled such criticism last week when he assailed the Trump tax cuts for benefiting the rich and increasing the federal debt and promising: “The tax cut is going to expire. If I’m re-elected, it’s going to stay expired.”

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