A Wealth Tax on Ultra-Millionaires is a Winning Strategy for Democrats
By Senator Elizabeth Warren
As millions of people struggle financially through the coronavirus pandemic, those at the top are getting richer and richer. While many families — disproportionately families of color — struggle to pay the rent, put food on the table, and afford doctor’s visits, billionaires have made more than a trillion dollars since the start of the pandemic.
It’s time for the wealthy and well-connected to pay their fair share. That’s why today I am releasing new legislation in the U.S. Senate to place a two-cent wealth tax on America’s ultra-millionaires — those with a net worth of more than $50 million, or the top one-tenth of the 1% — and a few cents more on net worth above $1 billion. If signed into law, it would raise at least $3 trillion — and help us make historic investments in education, childcare, healthcare, and more.
Two years ago, when I first released my wealth tax proposal, Republican politicians said it was an absurd idea that would never gain political support. Now, it’s clear they were dead wrong: new polling from Data for Progress shows the wealth tax is overwhelmingly popular among voters from across the political spectrum.
Data for Progress’ poll finds that 68 percent of voters support my wealth tax proposal, with only 20 percent opposed. Importantly, the survey demonstrates that this support isn’t limited to Democratic voters — it’s also the consensus position for Americans that identify as Independents and Republicans. My proposal is supported by 81 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of Independents, and 57 percent of Republicans.
The wealth tax is a winning strategy for Democrats — one that can unite voters across partisan lines who are fed up with the outrageous levels of wealth inequality in the U.S., voters fed up with the extreme racial wealth gap, and a tilted tax system that doesn’t ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. If enacted, it would create a more equitable economy, strengthen the standard of living for millions of Americans and be a winning platform for Democrats’ electoral success.
While plans to raise income taxes on the rich are important — and necessary — they are not enough on their own. That’s because many ultra-millionaires’ wealth is concentrated in stocks and assets, not income. For instance, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has reported an annual salary of just $81,840 for the past two decades despite having a net worth of more than $180 billion — which, according to the IRS, makes him appear closer to an accountant in terms of income than the richest person in the world. It’s more than past time to change that and make sure that the richest of the rich pay their fair share.
The inability of the income tax alone to address growing wealth inequality is staggering: according to an analysis from economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the wealthiest 0.05% of families only pay about 3% of their wealth in income taxes, compared with 7% for the bottom 99%. Just imagine what transformational changes we could bring for struggling families if those at the wealthiest 0.05% paid their fair share.
My wealth tax proposal would close the loopholes the ultra-wealthy have used for decades to cheat our tax code and finally account for the full net worth of America’s ultra-wealthy like real estate portfolios, art collections, expensive jewelry, and their private jets and yachts. If a middle-class family has to pay property taxes on their most significant asset — their home — then the wealthy should pay taxes on their assets too. This two-cent tax will finally ensure every American is paying their fair share.
Since the 1970s the 0.1% has nearly tripled their share of our nation’s wealth, and the share held by the bottom 90% has declined from one-third to one-quarter. That’s unacceptable: and it’s why we must urgently pursue solutions that comprehensively tackle wealth inequality in the U.S. The Democratic trifecta in the presidency, the Senate, and the House provides us with an important opportunity to pass legislation to help the middle class, like investments in childcare, early education, K-12, and infrastructure. Now it’s time for Democrats to utilize that majority and pass the big, structural change to our tax code that will both stimulate our economy and create a more fair, equitable distribution of wealth.
Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) is a Senator from Massachusetts.
Survey Methodology
From January 9 to January 10, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1129 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±2.9 percentage points.