John,

When the world’s richest man asked Twitter on Saturday if he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock so that he would pay some taxes, he couldn’t have made it clearer that our tax code is voluntary for billionaires and mandatory for the rest of us. (BTW, 58% of the three-million plus who took the poll said he should sell.)

While you and I pay our fair share each and every year, billionaires get to pick and choose when (and if) they pay taxes because our tax code doesn’t tax income gains from wealth as it taxes income from wages. The ultrawealthy only pay taxes on their enormous gains in wealth when they sell the assets, which many of them don’t need to do. Instead, they borrow at low interest rates against those assets and avoid paying income taxes.

During the pandemic alone, Elon Musk got $294 billion richer, but according to ProPublica he only paid an effective tax rate of 3.27% from 2014-2018 based on IRS data.[1] Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018. That’s not right!

Thankfully, there’s a plan to remedy that. The Billionaires Income Tax, as proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (OR), will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes on the income derived from their huge spikes in wealth each year. That means we won’t need a Twitter poll to make Elon Musk pay taxes.

Sign the petition: Billionaires like Elon Musk shouldn’t only have to pay taxes when they feel like it. Pass the Billionaires Income Tax now!

The Billionaires Income Tax will impact about the richest 700 Americans, but it could raise more than $550 billion to help fund the President Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan.[2] It’s the best way to make sure the billionaires who got $2.1 trillion richer during the pandemic pay their fair share on their enormous windfalls.

Taxing wealth like work is within our reach—President Biden has endorsed the tax along with plenty of members of Congress!

Add your name in support! Become a grassroots co-sponsor of the Billionaires Income Tax to make sure billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have to pay taxes every year, not just when they feel like it.

Thank you for fighting for a tax code that works for all of us, not just those at the top. We can Build Back Better when billionaires pay their fair share in taxes!

Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness

[1] “Elon Musk Worth $318 Billion: The Case for a Billionaires Income Tax,” Americans for Tax Fairness, Nov. 6, 2021

[2] “Wyden Statement on Billionaires Income Tax Score,” Senate Finance Committee, Nov. 5, 2021