US Senate Democrat unveils billionaires income tax

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden unveiled Wednesday the details of proposed billionaires tax, which would affect the wealthiest 700 Americans with tougher tax rules and help finance President Joe Biden's infrastructure package.

The Billionaires Income Tax would ensure billionaires pay tax every year, just like working Americans, Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said in a statement.

"There are two tax codes in America. The first is mandatory for workers who pay taxes out of every pay check. The second is voluntary for billionaires who defer paying taxes for years, if not indefinitely," he said.

"Two tax codes allow billionaires to use largely untaxed income from wealth to build more wealth, while working families struggle to balance the mortgage against groceries, and utilities against saving for the future," he explained.

Wyden argued the proposal would restore fairness to the US tax code and fund critical investments for American families.

"For too long billionaires have played by a different set of rules that allow them cheat the system and pay nothing in taxes," Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in the statement.

"The Billionaires Income Tax is an important step to crack down on tax avoidance schemes and loopholes to ensure the richest Americans pay what they owe. It’s time to build a fairer tax system that raises revenue for sorely needed investments in our infrastructure and economy," she added.

The proposal aims to target taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets or more than $100 million in income for three consecutive years.

Tradable assets like stocks would be marked-to-market every year. While billionaires would pay tax on the gain and take deductions for losses on tradable assets annually, they would be able to carry forward losses, and, in certain circumstances, carry back losses for three years, according to the statement.

The move comes one day after Senate Democrats released a proposal that would impose a minimum corporate tax of 15% on companies with more than $1 billion in profits.