Washington, D.C. — Today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Brendan Boyle (D-PA) unveiled the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, which would levy a 2 percent annual tax on households and trusts worth between $50 million and $1 billion, as well an additional 1 percent annual surtax on assets above $1 billion. Following the announcement of the bill, Alexandra Thornton, senior director of tax policy at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act recognizes that our tax system has become extremely unbalanced over the past few decades, contributing to wealth and income inequality. Income from work—salaries and wages—is taxed much more heavily than income from wealth. Even during the pandemic, while many low- and moderate-income people have lost wages and struggled to put food on the table, the stock market has continued to climb, enriching the wealthy, and those gains will be taxed at a much lower rate or not at all. Over time, these tax savings enable the wealthy to build their wealth even more, further exacerbating wealth inequality. For the very wealthy, it’s a snowball rolling downhill.
There are many ways to rebalance the tax code, and the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act is certainly a fair one for taxing the very wealthy.
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