Press Releases
Biden Budget Tackles Abject Absurdity of Billionaires Paying Lower Tax Rate Than Their Secretaries
Washington D.C. – Government watchdog Accountable.US called the Biden budget plan that includes a Billionaires Income Tax a huge leap towards the uber-wealthy finally paying their fair share while leveling the playing field for everyday workers. The proposal—supported by two-thirds of Americans including most Independents—would address a massive loophole allowing billionaires to avoid most taxes on investment gains, bringing in around $360 billion in new revenue over 10 years from the richest 0.01% of taxpayers that can go towards transformational investments helping everyday Americans.
Even during a pandemic, billionaires managed to collectively pad their fortunes by trillions of dollars as everyday workers fell further behind. The top .01 percent also managed to pay virtually nothing in taxes on this staggering new wealth thanks to massive tax loopholes they’ve enjoyed for years. Adding insult to injury, many billionaires currently paying a far lower effective tax than their own secretaries are tied to corporations that ratcheted up prices on consumers during the health crisis for no good reason. These companies’ excuses for price gouging have rung hollow as they continue to reward their shareholders billions in handouts and executives millions in bonuses. The Biden tax plan is the right answer to a corporate greed and income inequality crisis that has only gotten worse during the pandemic. There’s a reason Biden’s proposal is hugely popular: ensuring the ultra-wealthy finally pay their fair share will bring in tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue that can be reinvested in priorities that will bring more Americans into the middle class.”
Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US
- Billionaires Have Seen Their Wealth Explode During The COVID-19 Pandemic, With The 10 Richest Billionaires Increasing Their Fortunes From $700 Billion To $1.5 Trillion Over The Last Two Years And Billionaires Now Accounting For 3.5% Of Global Household Wealth After Accounting For Just Over 2% In Early 2020.
- In 2021, An Unprecedented Report Showed That America’s Top 25 Billionaires Paid A True Federal Tax Rate Of Only 3.4% While Their Collective Net Worth Grew $401 Billion From 2014 To 2018, Largely Due To The “Skyrocketing Value Of Their Assets” And The Use Of Tax Strategies “Beyond The Reach Of Ordinary People.”
- Many Of The Corporations That Made These Billionaires So Wealthy Have Recently Raised Prices On Consumers While Reporting Increased Profits, Margins, And Shareholder Handouts.
- Amazon Founder And Executive Chair Jeff Bezos Is The Second-Richest Person In The World With A Net Worth Of Over $190 Billion—Meanwhile, Amazon Announced A Price Increase To Its Amazon Prime Subscription In February 2022 And Saw Its Net Income Increase By Over $12 Billion In Its FY 2021.
- BNSF—A Subsidiary Of Billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway—Credited 5% Higher Freight Rates For A 12% Revenue Increase In Its Q3 2021, Saw Net Income In 2021’s First Nine Months Grow By 17% To Over $4.3 Billion, All While Its Parent Berkshire Hathaway Spent $12.6 Billion On Stock Buybacks In The First Six Months Of 2021.
- Billionaire Phil Knight And His Family Control Over 233 Million Shares Of Nike, Which Recently Reported $1.4 Billion In Quarterly Net Income, Gross Margin Improvement Of 100 Basis Points, And Approximately $1.7 Billion In Shareholder Handouts After Raising Prices On Several Of Its Most Popular Shoes And Brands.
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