John,

The explosive revelation from the New York Times that Donald Trump paid no federal income taxes in 11 out of 18 years and paid just $750 in 2016 and 2017 points to two big problems:[1]

Donald Trump has routinely skirted, if not broken, tax law through improper deductions and other accounting maneuvers;

and

Our tax code is fundamentally flawed and in need of major reform because it’s rigged in favor of the rich and powerful with special breaks unavailable to ordinary citizens.

One major reform is for Congress to enact a wealth tax, which would annually tax the net worth of the super-rich. It would be similar to the taxes on real estate and, in some places, personal property like cars that millions of Americans pay each year.

A wealth tax would curb the phenomenal growth in wealth that the country’s nearly 650 billionaires have reaped since the beginning of the pandemic, which has taken the lives of over 210,000 Americans and infected 7.5 million. These billionaires have seen their wealth increase by $845 billion—or 29%—between mid-March and mid-September as 50 million people lost their jobs, 30 million went hungry and 12 million lost their employer-provided health insurance.[2]

America’s nearly 650 billionaires now have more than twice as much wealth as the bottom half of the population—165 million people.[3]

Sign the petition and demand Congress act to reform our tax code and make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes—starting with a wealth tax.

A wealth tax would annually tax the net worth of these billionaires and a whole lot of multi-millionaires. Different versions of a wealth tax have been proposed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. One version would assess a 3% tax on wealth between $50 million and $1 billion, and a 6% tax on wealth above $1 billion. It would raise more than $2 trillion, and only the wealthiest 0.1%—or 75,000 households—would be subject to the tax.[4]

Another reason that millionaires and billionaires like Donald Trump can get away with paying $0 in income tax is because the enforcement capabilities of the IRS have been severely weakened by Republicans in Congress.

Nine years ago, 12% of millionaires’ tax returns were audited.[5] Now, it’s just 3%.[6] Remarkably, the very poorest taxpayers—those eligible for the poverty-fighting Earned Income Tax Credit—are about as likely to get audited as the wealthiest 1%.[7]

Sign the petition demanding Congress make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes by enacting a wealth tax, and fully fund the IRS to hold tax cheats like Donald Trump accountable.

Thank you for taking action today. Together, we’re demanding a fair share tax system that invests in working families and communities in need.

Mark Rickling

Policy and Legislative Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] “Long-Concealed Records Show Trump’s Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance,” New York Times, Sep. 27, 2020

[2] “Billionaire Wealth Grew by $845 Billion, or 29%, as America Struggled Through First Six Months of Pandemic,” Americans for Tax Fairness, Sep. 17, 2020

[3] Billionaires by the Numbers website, Americans for Tax Fairness, Oct. 5, 2020  

[4] “Senator Warren Unveils Proposal to Tax Wealth of Ultra-Rich Americans,” Press Release, Jan. 24, 2019

[5] “IRS 12 times more likely to audit millionaires than the rest of us,” Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 5, 2012

[6] “Fear a tax audit by IRS? Don't — the odds are with you,” CBS News, Mar. 8, 2019

[7] “It’s Getting Worse: The IRS Now Audits Poor Americans at About the Same Rate as the Top 1%,” ProPublica, May 30, 2019