Senate

Progressive lawmakers renew push to increase taxes on wealthiest Americans

by Lauren Irwin - 03/19/24 12:57 PM ET

FILE - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing at Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2023. The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed likely to preserve the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against a conservative-led challenge. The CFPB case is one of several major challenges to federal regulatory agencies on the docket this term for a court that has for more than a decade been open to limits on their operations. The CFPB, the brainchild of Warren, has long been opposed by Republicans and their financial backers. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File ) — FILE – Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing at Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2023. The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed likely to preserve the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against a conservative-led challenge. The CFPB case is one of several major challenges to federal regulatory agencies on the docket this term for a court that has for more than a decade been open to limits on their operations. The CFPB, the brainchild of Warren, has long been opposed by Republicans and their financial backers. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File )

A group of progressive lawmakers is renewing its push to increase taxes on the country’s wealthiest people.

The proposal, reintroduced Tuesday, would create a 2 percent tax on households that are worth more than $50 million and a 3 percent tax on households worth more than $1 billion. It would affect the wealthiest 100,000 households in the country, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), USA Today first reported.

“Today I’m re-introducing my Ultra-Millionaires Tax so that when someone makes it really big—earning over $50 million—they have to chip in 2 cents on the next dollar,” Warren said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“That means Jeff Bezos can’t keep paying lower tax rates than public school teachers,” Warren added.

In an effort to prevent the wealthy from avoiding paying the tax, the bill includes provisions to provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with an additional $100 billion. It also creates a 40 percent tax on net worth about $50 million for people who want to ditch their U.S. citizenship in order to not pay the wealth tax.

Warren has support from a handful of Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as more than 20 House Democrats. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), who serves as ranking member of the House Budget Committee, introduced the bill alongside Warren.

Warren’s bill is not expected to get very far in the Republican-controlled House but continues the left’s years-long effort to tax the rich.

Last week, President Biden released his ambitious budget proposal, in which he called for a wealth tax on individuals worth more than $100 million. He called for a 25 percent minimum tax rate on “the wealthiest 0.01 percent” of Americans and the restoration of the top income tax rate for people making more than $400,000 a year to 39.6 percent.

As Biden and Congress gear up for an election year, the proposals intend to restore tax rates closer to what they were before former President Trump took office.

In an emailed statement, Warren reiterated her message that it’s not fair that Amazon CEO’s Bezos has “tax loopholes” where he pays less than a teacher. She said that “all my bill is asking” is that those who are doing well financially pay more taxes “so everyone else can have a chance” to do well, too.

–Updated on March 20 at 9:54 a.m.