On The Money: Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree | Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money, where we want to hang out with the White House ghosts. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @NJagoda and @NivElis.

THE BIG DEAL—Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree: American consumers are emerging from a year of lockdown and isolation with their wallets out, fueling a spending spree that could help ailing businesses that struggled to survive the pandemic.

New data from several major financial institutions shows consumer spending up dramatically over the same period a year ago, when states ordered all but essential workers to stay home.
The data also shows spending levels exceeding the same period in 2019, a year before the pandemic, an indication that consumers are both ready to spend their money and bullish on the future.

“We’re well above where we were even in April of 2019, and I think that speaks broadly to the additional stimulus that people have received,” Wayne Best, the chief economist at Visa, told The Hill.

What Americans are buying: Data from Mastercard’s SpendingPulse barometer shows Americans are spending more on big purchases that usually require visits to showrooms.

Sales of furniture are up 21 percent from 2019 and up 72 percent from last year.
Jewelry sales have risen 14 percent from two years ago and more than tripled since 2020.
Sales at department stores have risen almost 10 percent from 2019.
And sales at restaurants in April more than doubled from last year, according to Mastercard’s data.

The Hill’s Reid Wilson breaks it all down here.

LEADING THE DAY

Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns: President BidenJoe BidenFirm behind Arizona audit says no data was destroyed, contradicting GOP allegations Stacey Abrams on not being Biden’s VP: ‘He picked the right person’ Overnight Defense: Top Dem backs off request for Israel arms sale delay | Afghanistan withdrawal up to 20 percent done | Esper returns to defense industry MORE and Vice President Harris on Monday released their 2020 tax returns, which reflect their income from the last year before they were inaugurated.

The president and first lady Jill BidenJill BidenOn The Money: Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree | Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden wants Congress to pass abortion bill, pushes for Mideast cease-fire Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns MORE reported adjusted gross income of $607,336. They reported paying $157,414 in federal income taxes, for an effective tax rate of 25.9 percent.
Harris and second gentleman Doug EmhoffDoug EmhoffOn The Money: Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree | Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden wants Congress to pass abortion bill, pushes for Mideast cease-fire Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns MORE reported on their 2020 federal tax return adjusted gross income of $1,695,225 and total taxes of $621,893, for an effective tax rate of 36.7 percent.

The release of their tax returns, which came on the tax-filing deadline, follows four years in which former President TrumpDonald TrumpNew York prosecutors investigating Trump Organization in a ‘criminal capacity’ Firm behind Arizona audit says no data was destroyed, contradicting GOP allegations Trump calls for Jan. 6 commission debate to end ‘immediately’ MORE and former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PenceOn The Money: Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree | Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns GOP splits open over Jan. 6 commission vote Not granting DC and Puerto Rico statehood would be anti-democratic MORE broke with precedent and did not disclose their returns at any point while in office. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda and Brett Samuels break it down here.

Kerry: US considering carbon import tax: The U.S. is looking at potentially adding costs to imports from countries that don’t put heavy taxes on polluters, climate envoy John KerryJohn KerryOn The Money: Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree | Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns OVERNIGHT ENERGY: IEA calls for no new investment in fossil fuels in net-zero plan | Biden frames EV goals as competition with China | US considering carbon import tax, Kerry says Kerry: US considering carbon import tax MORE said Tuesday.

Kerry said that President Biden told officials to look at “what are the consequences, how do you do the pricing, what is the impact” of such a policy, according to The Associated Press.

Click Here: racing 92 rugby jersey

“He wants to make sure we’ve thoroughly vetted it and thought about it as a matter of policy, particularly because our friends are doing so,” Kerry said.

The importance: The Biden administration has floated using carbon fees in some capacity to help curb climate change, but hadn’t specified what they would look like. This is one of the clearest indications we’ve gotten so far, but there’s a long road to go before it potentially gets implemented.

“But we do have some concerns about what the downstream impact might be, and we want to understand that fully before jumping on this,” the former secretary of State added. “Our preference would be that every country is joining in in a fair manner in its efforts to reduce emissions sufficiently, that we’re all paying the price of avoiding the consequences of the global climate crisis.”

The Hill’s Rachel Frazin has more here.

Yellen pitches corporate tax hikes to business groups: In other tax news, Treasury Secretary Janet YellenJanet Louise YellenOn The Money: Pent-up consumer demand fuels post-pandemic spending spree | Biden, Harris release 2020 tax returns Yellen pitches corporate tax hikes to business groups Economist Richard Wolff says higher wages needed to spur faster job growth MORE on Tuesday made a direct pitch for raising corporate taxes to the business community, telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the funds would be an investment to reduce inequality and rebuild the country’s infrastructure.

“With corporate taxes at a historical low of 1 percent of GDP, we believe the corporate sector can contribute to this effort by bearing its fair share. We propose simply to return the corporate tax toward historical norms,” Yellen told the Chamber at the opening of its Global Forum on Economic Recovery.

“At the same time, we want to eliminate incentives that reward corporations for moving their operations overseas and shifting profits to low-tax countries. As part of this effort, we are working with our international partners on a global minimum corporate tax to stop the race to the bottom,” she added.

The background: The pitch comes as the Chamber makes a concerted push to prevent corporate tax increases.

As part of his $4.1 trillion in infrastructure and family support plans, President Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax to 28 percent from its current 21 percent, though key moderate Democrats have only signaled support for raising the rate to 25 percent.
Senate Republicans who are negotiating on the infrastructure portion of the plan have drawn a red line at increasing taxes, saying they are unwilling to revisit the 2017 GOP tax cut that brought corporate rates down from 35 percent.

The Hill’s Niv Elis takes us to Yellen’s speech here.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

Federal Reserve Vice Chair of Supervision Randal Quarles, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Jelena McWilliams, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chair Rodney Hood, and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu testify before the House Financial Services Committee at an oversight hearing at 10 a.m.
The House Ways and Means Committee holds a hearing on paying for infrastructure investments through the tax code at 10 a.m.
A House Appropriations subcommittee holds a hearing on global climate finance at 10 a.m.
IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on tax enforcement at 2 p.m.

GOOD TO KNOW

The tariffs implemented during former President Trump’s trade war with China hit American businesses and consumers hardest, according to new report from Moody’s Investor Services.
Senators on both sides of the aisle on Tuesday said they are interested in reviving an Obama-era bond program to help finance infrastructure projects.
The Biden administration Tuesday said it is delaying for two weeks a ban on buying or selling securities in companies that have ties to the Chinese military.
The CEO of Macy’s says the chain expects to see a retail sales boom hit U.S. stores as Americans venture out of isolation amid the growing availability of COVID-19 vaccines.
Bank of America announced on Tuesday that it would be raising its minimum wage to $25 an hour by 2025 and will now require its U.S. vendors to pay employees at least $15 an hour.

ODDS AND ENDS

Amazon is extending its ban on police use of its facial recognition technology until further notice, the company confirmed Tuesday.
President Biden on Tuesday test-drove a Ford electric pickup truck as part of a visit to the company’s plant in Dearborn, Mich., during which he touted electric vehicles as the “future of the auto industry.”