New minimal tax may hit Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon hardest, research reveals

Researchers utilized the Inflation Discount Act’s new 15% company minimal tax to 2021 firm earnings and located that the burden would solely be felt by 78 corporations, with Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon paying essentially the most.

The College of North Carolina Tax Heart research used previous securities filings to map the tax, which applies to corporations’ 2021 earnings in January.

The researchers discovered that the 15% minimal would have taken a complete of $31.8 billion from 78 companies in 2021. Berkshire led the way in which with $8.33 billion in estimated payouts, and Amazon owes $2.77 billion primarily based on its 2021 earnings.

The research notes the restrictions of taking a look at solely public firm knowledge inside a yr. The researchers acknowledged that these estimates could also be topic to alter, notably as the corporate’s operations change underneath tax in 2023.

In August, President Joe Biden signed the minimal e book tax into regulation together with the remainder of the Inflation Discount Act. The tax is particularly meant to focus on corporations incomes greater than $1 billion per yr.

The Joint Committee on Taxation had earlier estimated that it might have an effect on round 150 companies, with prices falling, notably on the manufacturing trade. The bipartisan JCT additionally predicted income of $34 billion within the first yr of tax, barely greater than the theoretical income for 2021 projected at UNC.

In accordance with the research, the following highest taxes will likely be paid by Ford, AT&T, eBay and Moderna, all of which can owe greater than $1.2 billion primarily based on their 2021 fiscal place.