Think about a small live performance venue, possibly 900 folks, give or take. That’s comparatively the dimensions of a small cruise ship, or the common public highschool within the U.S. A gaggle that dimension collectively holds extra wealth than the underside half of the nation mixed, as a result of that’s roughly what number of billionaires dwell within the U.S. However a brand new invoice is asking the folks in that hypothetical live performance venue or highschool to chip in, and to bankroll thousand-dollar checks to thousands and thousands of middle-class People.
Senator Bernie Sanders and Consultant Ro Khanna launched the “Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act” on Monday, a proposed 5% annual wealth tax on people with a web value of $1 billion or extra. Sanders estimates a complete of 938 billionaires dwell within the U.S. and maintain a collective $8.2 trillion.
That 8.2 trillion received’t solely go into the federal government’s coffers. The proposed invoice has a few of that income going again into your pockets. In its first yr, tax income would go towards a one-time $3,000 test for each individual residing in a lower- or middle-income family, or these incomes $150,000 or much less.
Whereas the laws faces steep odds given Republican management of the Home and Senate, the invoice follows a pattern of proposals geared toward redistributing billionaire wealth. A significant labor union launched a California billionaire tax poll initiative of comparable stature—a 5% tax on these with a web value of $1 billion or extra within the state—although framed as a one-time tax reasonably than a recurring one. That invoice has ignited an exodus from the state, with Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Web page amongst those that have introduced their departure. The Biden Administration in 2023 launched an identical invoice—a 20% minimal revenue tax for households with a web value of $100 million or extra—although with little success.
Sanders envisions this invoice can be totally different. The income from the next years can be directed towards the “most pressing crises facing working families,” based on Sanders in a press launch introducing the invoice, estimated to generate $4.4 trillion inside its first decade. Sanders and Khanna mentioned the cash would reverse $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Reasonably priced Care Act from the One Huge Lovely Invoice Act, set up a minimal $60,000 wage for public college academics, and cap mum or dad baby care funds at 7% of family revenue.
“At a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, this legislation demands that the billionaire class in America finally pay their fair share of taxes so that we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%,” Sanders mentioned in a press launch.
Billionaires have more and more caught the ire of disgruntled People, lots of whom view the ultrawealthy as a menace to the nation, based on a November 2025 Harris ballot. Though 60% of People say they need to grow to be a billionaire, 53% say billionaires are a menace to democracy, up seven factors from when the identical query was posed a yr prior.
Doing the maths on the tax
Sanders’ press launch cites an evaluation from Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, researchers College of California, Berkeley. Their report reveals the long-term influence of a 5% wealth tax on America’s 10 richest folks, making use of the 5% tax to their wealth for yearly they’ve been ranked a billionaire. The mathematics reveals the wealth of billionaires would basically halve yearly.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the nation’s richest individual at this second, would see his fortune fall from about $745 billion to $363 billion if a 5% tax was utilized to his wealth yearly since he turned a billionaire in 2012. Google co-founder Larry Web page’s wealth would decline from $258 billion to $83 billion if the identical tax had been utilized annually since he reached billionaire standing in 2004.
“Democracies become oligarchies when wealth becomes too concentrated,” the researchers wrote. “The US has now reached an unprecedented level of top wealth concentration.”
