I understand that President Biden plans to use a billionaires income tax to help fund his proposed federal budget for next year. The new levy would largely end the scandal of billionaires going tax-free for years on end and raise $360 billion over 10 years from those with wealth of at least $100 million—the richest 0.01% of taxpayers, or about 20,000 families.
This would be a major improvement to our tax system, which currently allows the wealthy to accumulate huge amounts of assets—their wealth—tax free while average Americans pay the taxes they owe year after year.
Billionaires are more than capable of paying the tax. During the first two years of the pandemic, their total net worth shot up by $1.7 trillion, or 57%—to $4.6 trillion. Much of that gain will never be taxed because billionaires don’t need to sell their assets—“realize their gains”—living instead on cheap loans borrowed against their rising fortunes.
A Billionaires Income Tax has been endorsed by 105 national organizations, 219 economists and law professors, and more than 250 millionaires. It’s also endorsed by me, and I hope you will staunchly support its passage. Thanks.
