Dear John,

On this Tax Day, it’s important to consider: Elon Musk alone has more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans.^[1] That’s 131 million people combined.

In the minute it will take you to read this email, Jeff Bezos will have added about $30,000 to his wealth.^[2] But virtually none of that wealth growth -- the main source of billionaire income -- may ever be taxed.^[3]

That’s because income tax doesn’t cover billionaire wealth: Bezos’s salary is just $81,840. Musk’s is $0. In many years, they’ve both avoided paying any federal income tax at all.^[4] So, while millions of Americans have lost their jobs during the pandemic,^[5] billionaires like Bezos and Musk got 70% richer.^[6]

None of us should accept an economy where teachers, nurses, and firefighters pay a higher tax rate than billionaires.

If we want billionaires to pay what they owe, we’ve got to tax their wealth -- not just their income. The Billionaires Income Tax would end an unfair tax code that rewards wealth over work. Congress can make billionaires pay their fair share.

President Biden’s new budget proposes a fix for this broken system. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would establish a 20 percent minimum tax rate on all American households worth more than $100 million.

Biden’s Billionaires Income Tax would raise $360 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. Senator Wyden has a similar plan that raises even more.^[7]

When billionaires don’t pay their fair share, the cost is greater than just money. It starves the government of funding that would go directly toward mental health, child care, and other social programs. It defunds schools, Medicare and national security. And of course, it increases income inequality.

Billionaires must give back to the society that made them successful.

I refuse to accept an economy where school teachers pay a higher tax rate than billionaire investors. Join me in calling on Congress to pass the Billionaires Income Tax.

Billionaires should pay what they owe. In the fight against income inequality, the Billionaires Income Tax is a good place to start.

Thanks for helping us build a more equitable society,

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action

^{[1] Billionaire Wealth, U.S. Job Losses and Pandemic Profiteers, Inequality.org, October, 2020
[2] 9 ways to imagine Jeff Bezos wealth, New York Times Magazine, 2022
[3] Richest Americans -- Including Bezos, Musk And Buffett -- Paid Federal Income Taxes Equaling Just 3.4% Of $401 Billion In New Wealth, Bombshell Report Shows, Forbes, June 2021
[4] The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax, ProPublica, June, 2021
[5] Billionaires by the Numbers, Americans for Tax Fairness, March 2020
[6] The world’s richest 10 men doubled their fortunes to $1.5 trillion during the pandemic, says Oxfam” MarketWatch, January, 2022
[7] Billionaires Income Tax, Senator Ron Wyden, October 2021}