If Congress won’t take action, state governments should make good on President Biden’s proposals and take meaningful steps towards rebalancing the tax code., the tax will apply only to the top 0.01 percent of American households, which currently includes those worth over $100 million. Over half of the revenue generated from the tax will come from households worth more than $1 billion.
The U.S. has no shortage of wealthy tax cheats in need of fair taxing. The 20 percent minimum income tax proposed by Biden is a 12 percentage point increase from the averagerevealed how little in taxes the wealthiest Americans actually pay. In 2018, for example, Elon Musk — until very recently the richest man in the world — paid. A school teacher, like those in West Virginia who went on strike for higher pay that year, paid an estimated federal income tax rate of 22 percent.
But federal gridlock provides state governments an opportunity to take income inequality into their own hands. Voters in Massachusetts, for example, recently elected to amend their state’s constitution to levy a 4 percent surtax on all individuals with annual income of one million dollars or more. The Fair Share Amendment — or “millionaire’s tax,” as it is known colloquially — is expected to generate an additionalare on the table in other states across the country, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Washington.
The astonishing, unequal wealth gains amid a global pandemic renewed public appetite for increasing taxes on billionaires —If Congress won’t take action, state governments should make good on President Biden’s proposals and take meaningful steps towards rebalancing the tax code. Let’s ensure that everyone, including the ultra-wealthy, pay their fair share.
Bernie was right. Billionaires shouldn't exist.
It’s so obvious it’s absurd to even have to say.