WASHINGTON (Fwrd Axis) — President Joe Biden will propose a new minimum tax targeting billionaires when he unveils his 2023 budget on Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Titled the “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax”, the new proposal would see a 20 percent minimum tax rate on all American households worth more than $100 million, and over half of the revenue would come from those worth more than $1 billion.
“This minimum tax would make sure that the wealthiest Americans no longer pay a tax rate lower than teachers and firefighters,” according to a document on the matter.
The document further says the new proposal would reduce the deficit by about $360 billion in the next decade.
The news, first reported by the Washington Post, comes as Democrats attempt to revive the stalled “reconciliation” package with the midterm elections approaching in November. While Biden has been in favor of higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans, this marks the first time the White House has presented a plan designed towards billionaires.
While Biden was in Europe over the last week, talks with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) continued back home. Previous attempts from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to hit the most wealthy Americans with a tax hike have failed, losing out in votes from members of their own party.
Additionally, there is no guarantee that Manchin nor Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) will go along with the plan.
“As a result, this new minimum tax will eliminate the ability for the unrealized income of ultra-high-net-worth households to go untaxed for decades or generations,” the document stated.
Biden’s 2023 budget proposal would cut $1.3 trillion from the deficit over the next decade, according to a fact sheet released from the White House on Saturday.
The White House’s plan would mandate billionaires to pay a tax rate of at least 20 percent on their full income as well as whatever they may have made in unrealized gains. Along with the billionaire tax, Biden’s proposal would include increases in defense and non-defense spending, child care, other social programs that were in his Build Back Better agenda.
