Tech investor Cathie Wood calls for tax clarity from Trump

STORY: Noted tech investor Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, said President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tax cuts should be backdated to the first day of 2025, before he even takes office.

Wood’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF has surged 17% since Trump won the presidency, which is expected to bring policy changes that will benefit the fund’s holdings.

Two of the fund’s stocks, Tesla and crypto exchange Coinbase, are already up 54% and 7% respectively since the election.

:: September 13, 2024

Trump campaigned on a pledge to cut some corporate taxes and extend individual tax cuts, set to expire next year, that were passed by Congress during his first administration.

And that’s where Wood said she is pushing for more clarity in order to boost economic growth.

In an interview with Reuters, Wood said it would be “very helpful” if Trump’s proposed tax cuts – which must first pass through Congress – were made retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025, in order to provide clarity for markets and spur corporate growth.

Trump takes office on January 20th.

But Anna Rathbun, chief investment officer at CBIZ Investment Advisory Services, said that despite a Republican sweep, extending Trump’s tax cuts, at least in their current form, is not a sure thing.

“With regards to taxes, you know, we have what is called a weak sweep in Washington, in terms of a red wave. This basically means that there’s no guarantee for taxes to be passed or tax extensions to be passed at the end of 2025. In fact, the weak sweep, which means that there’s not much of a majority, the majority is weak on the red side, on the Republican side, a lot of them are deficit hawks. And they were voted in because they are deficit hawks. So if they think about the constituents and their promises, they’re not gonna be, it’s not gonna be… the tax cuts aren’t going to be extended without a fight.”

Wood told Reuters she has only met Trump once, earlier this year at his Florida home, but is in contact with Tesla boss and billionaire Trump backer Elon Musk.

Campaign finance records indicate she did not financially back Trump in the 2024 election.

Neither Musk nor Trump’s transition team responded to requests for comment.