Biden has pledged that his programs won’t add to the deficit, which means selling Congress and voters on a tax on assets, not income, of America’s wealthiest .0005%.
To help pay for his big economic and social agenda, President Joe Biden is looking to go where the big money is: billionaires. Biden never endorsed an outright “wealth tax” when he campaigned for the White House last year. But the more conventional rate increases that he’s proposed on the income of large corporations and the wealthiest Americans have hit a roadblock. That leaves a special tax on the assets — rather than the income — of billionaires being proposed by a Senate Democrat as a possible way to help pay for child care, universal prekindergarten, child tax credits, family leave and environmental initiatives. Biden has pledged that his programs won’t add a penny to the deficit, which means selling to Congress and voters a tax on the wealthiest.0005% of Americans. Some details on the proposed billionaires tax: Essentially, billionaires make the bulk of their money off their wealth. This might be from the stock market. It could include, once sold, beachfront mansions or the ownership of rare art and antiquities. Even a triceratops skeleton. This new tax would apply solely to people with at least $1 billion in assets or $100 million in income for three straight years. These standards mean that just 700 taxpayers would face the additional tax on increases to their wealth, according to a description obtained by The Associated Press of the proposal of by the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. On tradeable items such as stocks, billionaires would still pay a tax even if they held on to the asset. They would be taxed on any increases in value and take deductions on losses. Under current law, those assets get taxed only when sold. Billionaires also would face an additional tax on nontradeable assets such as real estate and business interests once those assets are sold. During the first year of the proposed tax, billionaires also would owe taxes on any built-in gains that predate the tax. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
