In a new bill, US President Joe Biden has proposed a minimum tax of 20 percent for families with incomes over $ 100 million. The proposal is unlikely to receive the necessary support to take effect this year, but it has brought to the debate what the government should do with the dizzying incomes of wealthier Americans.
One of the richest women in the world, MacKenzie Scott has donated over $ 12 billion over the past two years, contributing funds to over 1,200 organizations focused on racial justice, climate change, education, abortion rights, humanitarian aid for the war in Ukraine, human rights, etc.
“We use these funds in the ways that the communities want and in strategic ways. “We are very pleased,” said Erik Stegman of the American Indians in Philanthropy.
The ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos donates more than her ex-husband, who has a net worth of hundreds of billions of dollars. The United States has more billionaires than any other country in the world, and the question often arises as to whether the tax system should collect more of these vast fortunes. President Biden thinks so.
“A firefighter or a teacher pays more than double the tax rate a billionaire pays. This is not fair and that is why the Bill I have proposed provides for a minimum tax that billionaires must pay. “The minimum tax of 20 percent will be applied only to the richest one percent of Americans,” he said.
President Biden says billionaires currently pay an average of 8 percent in taxes on their income.
“We find that often the richest in the country can pay little or no income taxes. “This is because their main source of income each year is not from salaries, but from the growth of their assets,” said Chuck Marr of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Other experts say the wealthy pay enough when all forms of taxation are collected, even up to 32 percent of their income. They also say they contribute in other ways to the economy.
“Most of the assets of millionaires and billionaires are owned by businesses. Most of Jeff Bezos’s fortune is owned by Amazon Corporation, which employs millions of people each year. “So I do not want Jeff Bezos to pay more taxes and thus lower the value of Amazon,” said economist Chris Edwards of the CATO Institute.
Biden says the tax he intends to impose on billionaires will go $ 360 billion into the federal budget. The bill is not expected to be approved by the Senate this year, but supporters say the right moment is being created to impose this tax on the wealthiest. Most Americans think that the richest people in the country do not pay enough taxes.
