The White Home shrugs after the Biden report pushed forward with the tax hike on capital positive aspects

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington, DC, United States on Friday, April 23, 2021.

Jim Lo Scalzo | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The plan reported by President Joe Biden to increase capital gains taxes for millionaires may have terrified Wall Street, but Thursday’s sudden stock slide didn’t seem to rock the White House.

Press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday brushed aside a question about whether the Biden government is concerned that investors appear not to support the proposal to raise taxes for the rich.

“I’ve done this long enough not to comment on movements in the stock market,” said Psaki during a press conference.

“But I actually saw data going back up this morning,” she added before continuing.

The plan, which aims to increase the tax on capital gains from 20% for Americans who earn more than $ 1 million to 39.6%, was reported by outlets such as Bloomberg News and The New York Times.

US stocks reversed gains on Thursday and fell sharply on the reports. The stock indices closed the trading session on Thursday with a loss of around 1%.

But on Friday afternoon, stocks appeared poised to offset their losses as analysts predicted such tax hikes would likely be scaled back before they pass Congress.

“We expect Congress to pass a scaled-down version of this tax hike,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a note. “We expect Congress to agree on a more modest increase, possibly 28%.”

The reported tax hike plan would be in line with Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign platform, on which he pledged to raise tariffs on businesses and the richest Americans. The president has repeatedly promised that people who earn less than $ 400,000 a year will not raise their taxes.

The White House’s nonchalant reaction to recent stock volatility is in stark contrast to the stance of former President Donald Trump, who frequently denounced market gains as an indicator of his administration’s success.