How to Get $1 Trillion from 1000 Billionaires: Tax Their Gains Now. Saez, E. & Zucman, G. April 2021. Unpublished manuscript![How to Get $1 Trillion from 1000 Billionaires: Tax Their Gains Now [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Link abstract bibtex 2 downloads Billionaires pay low effective tax rates because they can defer taxes on their capital gains for decades or forever as income tax on gains is due only upon sale of assets. US billionaires now own $4.25 Trillion, out of which $2.7 Trillion are gains that they haven't paid tax upon yet. During COVID, billionaires untaxed gains increased by $1.25 Trillion. We propose to end this tax deferral advantage by imposing a one-time tax on the stock of billionaires' unrealized gains at the ordinary tax rate (39.6%+3.8% under Biden's plan). Practically, all gains accumulated as of April 1, 2021 will be deemed realized and the tax would be payable over 10 years. This would raise approximately $1 trillion. Because it is a one-time tax of gains already accumulated, it does not create adverse economic incentives. Because gains will be deemed realized, it is an extra burden only on billionaires who were going to avoid taxes on their gains. Because it is imposed only on billionaires, a highly visible group of less than 1000, it is administratively doable. Billionaires can easily borrow against their wealth or sell part of their business stakes to pay the tax, without affecting the operation of the businesses they own. This is the most progressive tax imaginable and can bring substantial revenue for pressing needs. It fits with and strengthens the Biden administration goal of taxing capital gains like ordinary income.
@unpublished{SaezZucman2021a,
title = {How to Get \$1 Trillion from 1000 Billionaires: Tax Their Gains Now},
author = {Saez, Emmanuel and Zucman, Gabriel},
year = {2021},
month = apr,
url = {https://gabriel-zucman.eu/},
urldate = {2024-05-29},
abstract = {Billionaires pay low effective tax rates because they can defer taxes on their capital gains for decades or forever as income tax on gains is due only upon sale of assets. US billionaires now own \$4.25 Trillion, out of which \$2.7 Trillion are gains that they haven't paid tax upon yet. During COVID, billionaires untaxed gains increased by \$1.25 Trillion. We propose to end this tax deferral advantage by imposing a one-time tax on the stock of billionaires' unrealized gains at the ordinary tax rate (39.6\%+3.8\% under Biden's plan). Practically, all gains accumulated as of April 1, 2021 will be deemed realized and the tax would be payable over 10 years. This would raise approximately \$1 trillion. Because it is a one-time tax of gains already accumulated, it does not create adverse economic incentives. Because gains will be deemed realized, it is an extra burden only on billionaires who were going to avoid taxes on their gains. Because it is imposed only on billionaires, a highly visible group of less than 1000, it is administratively doable. Billionaires can easily borrow against their wealth or sell part of their business stakes to pay the tax, without affecting the operation of the businesses they own. This is the most progressive tax imaginable and can bring substantial revenue for pressing needs. It fits with and strengthens the Biden administration goal of taxing capital gains like ordinary income.},
keywords = {Wealth Taxation},
note = {Unpublished manuscript}
}
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