Fact check: Biden falsely credits tax that took effect in 2023 for deficit reduction in 2021 and 2022 | CNN Politics

Joe Biden falsely said Wednesday that his new corporate minimum tax is the reason the federal budget deficit declined in 2021 and 2022.

In reality, that tax didn't even come into effect until the beginning of 2023.

Biden also got a key number wrong in this section of the Las Vegas speech: 55 big companies, not 550, didn't pay any federal income tax in their previous fiscal year.

The primary reason for the deficit fell was that the deficit had skyrocketed to a record high of about $3.1 trillion in fiscal 2020.

The increase happened largely because of temporary, bipartisan pandemic spending.

After much of the temporary spending expired on schedule, the deficit plummeted to about $1.4 trillion in 2022.

Biden can reasonably take credit for stimulating the US economic recovery.