Senate negotiators homing in on proposal to tax billionaires
By Alexander Bolton - 10/25/21 02:27 PM EDT
Democratic Senate negotiators are homing in on a final proposal to tax the nation’s wealthiest individuals and families as a principal source of revenue for a major human infrastructure spending bill.
The proposal would apply only to taxpayers who have more than $1 billion in assets or who earn $100 million in income for three consecutive years, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
It would apply to around 700 taxpayers and is projected to raise hundreds of billions of dollars.
“In a package that’s supposed to be about giving everybody a shot to get ahead, it would be a big mistake, from both a policy and a political perspective, not to ask billionaires to pay a fair share,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in a statement Monday.
“The Billionaires Income Tax is about fairness and showing the American people taxes aren’t mandatory for them and optional for the wealthiest people in the country,” Wyden said. “No working person in this country thinks it’s right that billionaires can pay no taxes for years on end, and sometimes never at all.”
Senate Democrats initially wanted to raise revenue to pay for their budget reconciliation package by raising the corporate tax rate and marginal income tax rates on wealthy Americans in the top income tax bracket.
But plans to raise the corporate tax rate and marginal income tax rates were shelved because of opposition from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/578332-senate-negotiators-homing-in-on-proposal-to-tax-billionaires