John,
America’s richest families don’t pay their fair share, and they haven’t for decades. While working people pay taxes on every paycheck, billionaires watch their fortunes grow tax-free, year after year. They borrow off their growing wealth, avoid selling assets, and then pass all that wealth growth on to their heirs with no tax bill.
Now, Congress has a chance to put a stop to this high-end tax dodging.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) along with Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN) have introduced the Billionaires Income Tax Act, a historic piece of legislation that will finally end the "buy, borrow, die" scam that helps the ultra-wealthy dodge taxes. The bill will require households worth over $1 billion, and those that consistently have income of over $100 million, to pay a minimum 23.8% tax rate on all their income, including unrealized gains—the growth in value of stocks, real estate, and other assets that currently goes untaxed unless the underlying asset is sold.
The Billionaires Income Tax applies to less than 0.01% of the country, but would raise a staggering $557 billion over the next decade.[1] That’s money that could fund schools, build infrastructure, expand healthcare access, and lower costs for working families.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset the rules, all without raising taxes on 99.99% of Americans.
Tell Congress to pass the Billionaires Income Tax and force the ultra-wealthy to finally pay their fair share.
If you work for your income, you pay taxes. If your wealth makes you money while you sleep, you should pay taxes too. No more special treatment for billionaires who shuffle money between shell companies, dodge audits, and leverage their riches to rewrite the rules in their favor.
The American public across party lines overwhelmingly supports higher taxes on billionaires. Even Trump voters say the wealthy pay too little. But year after year, the ultra-rich block tax reform through lobbying, dark money groups, and political donations. The result is that billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos pay a lower effective tax rate than nurses, factory workers, or firefighters when you count all income, including unrealized gains. By that measure in one study, the 400 richest families in America paid just 8.2% in taxes on average, less than half the rate most Americans pay.[2]
This legislation changes that. It charges interest on deferred taxes from hard-to-assess assets like privately held businesses. And it applies only to the richest families in America, those with over $1 billion in net worth or those with income consistently over $100 million. No middle-class family, no small business owner, no teacher or nurse will pay a dime more because of this bill.
Congress must stand with the people instead of protecting the power of oligarchs who’ve rigged the system for decades. We know where the billionaires stand. Now we need to make sure our lawmakers know where we stand.
It’s time the rich played by the same rules as the rest of us. Tell Congress to pass the Billionaires Income Tax.
Let’s build a tax system that works for everyone, not the wealthy few.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Wyden Statement on Billionaires Income Tax Score
[2] What Is the Average Federal Individual Income Tax Rate on the Wealthiest Americans?
