These WA Billionaires Could Pay 20% More Under Biden Plan

Seattle WA

29 March, 2022

12:35 PM

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WASHINGTON — Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and other wealthy Washingtonians could pay 20 percent more in taxes under a "Billionaire Minimum Tax" proposed in President Joe Biden's fiscal year 2023 budget proposal. The Biden administration is asking Congress to approve the proposal, part of its efforts to reduce the federal deficit over the next decade while at the same time funding new spending. The proposed tax on the ultra-wealthy would affect fewer than 1 percent of Americans, but "eliminates the inefficient sheltering of income for decades or generations," the White House said Monday at a news conference. Under the proposal, households worth more than $100 million would pay at least 20 percent in taxes on both income and "unrealized gains," or the increase in an unsold investment's value. Many wealthy people hold onto these investments for decades, meaning they're never taxed, the administration said. The tax would apply only to the top one-hundredth of 1 percent of Americans, Biden said at a news conference, but would raise "$360 billion that can be used to lower costs for families and cut the deficit." Among those likely affected would be the following Washington residents with a place on the Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires ranking: Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, whose net worth was $195.2 billion at the close of business Monday; Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, whose net worth was $135.9 billion at the close of business Monday;Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, whose net worth was $99.9 billion at the close of business MondayMacKenzie Scott, philanthropist, whose net worth was $50.7 billion at the close of business Monday. "Now, I'm a capitalist, but … if you make a billion bucks, great," Biden said. "Just pay your fair share. Pay a little bit. "A firefighter and a teacher pay more than double — double the tax rate that a billionaire pays. That's not right. That's not fair." The proposed policy is "extremely nuanced," according to an Associated Press explainer. It would allow wealthy households to spread some payments of their unrealized gains over nine years, and for five years on new income going forward. In effect, the AP explained, the payments are a prepayment on tax obligations they will owe when the investments are sold. The proposal could be met with resistance by moderate Democrats, including Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona, but it gives Democrats a talking point as inflation reaches a 40-year high. At the same time, for Republicans who oppose it, it creates a political liability of appearing to side with multibillionaires. In Washington state, Rep. Pramila Jayapal noted that the ten richest men on the Forbes list saw their fortunes double over the pandemic, soaring to a combined $1.5 trillion. In a statement Monday, Sen. Patty Murray also welcomed the proposed tax. "The President's budget would lower costs for Washington state families and prioritize important investments that really matter to our state — just by asking giant corporations and the very wealthiest to pay their fair share," Murray said. "Under this budget, we would see significant investments to boost our housing construction and supply in a big way and make it so working people from Spokane to Seattle can actually afford a home." Last year, ProPublica published a bombshell report based on unreleased IRS files that showed multibillionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Rupert Murdoch paid very little or sometimes nothing at all in income taxes. The Associated Press contributed reporting.