Racing to find alternate ways to pay for their massive budget reconciliation package, congressional Democrats are now targeting the wealth of the very richest Americans.
The proposal would tax billionaires on the gain in value of certain assets every year, instead of only at the time of sale, as is currently done. Details remain scarce, as lawmakers try to swiftly cobble together the complicated plan so it can be released in the coming days. It would likely only hit those at the very, very top of the wealth ladder. “It would help get at capital gains, which are an extraordinarily large part of the incomes of the wealthiest individuals, and right now escape taxation until they’re realized,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, adding that she wouldn’t call that a “wealth tax.” RELATED: Democrats want to tax the very rich. Here’s who they are The billionaire tax plan could bring in as much as $250 billion in revenue, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Tapper on Sunday. It would have to be coupled with other new tax measures to cover the party’s sweeping social spending package, which could cost around $2 trillion. Democrats are in this position because they’ve been blocked from raising the corporate tax rate and top marginal individual income tax rate to levels at or closer to where they were before Republicans slashed taxes in 2017. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has refused to support these measures, and Democrats need the votes of all 50 members to pass the budget reconciliation measure in the Senate.
