By: Sunny Walia 

Apr 5, 2022

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — President Joe Biden proposed the “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” to tax Americans with assets accumulating at least $100 million on Mar. 28 in Washington, D.C. Biden is looking at a 20% tax on individuals with income exceeding $100 million, which can be in unrealized capital gains and investments. He wants this to start in the upcoming 2023 fiscal year. 

Biden speaking to an audience

(Photo Credits: Gage Skidmore) 

This “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” is aimed to apply to the top 1/100th of 1 percent of households. This bill is targeted towards households that make $100 million or more a year, in hopes of having the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. 

This 20% tax would apply to total income, which includes asset growth and investments that haven’t been liquidated. The wealthiest Americans know that their income can be taxed, so with their immense financial literacy, they find avenues where they can’t be taxed. This bill would work to combat those who try to find loopholes in the tax code. 

Stocks are only taxed when they are sold, but this plan will tax stocks that sit and accumulate. That describes the part of the bill that would tax unrealized capital gains and investments. 

This tax hopes to reduce the federal deficit by $1 trillion and would collect billions of dollars of tax revenue. Along with individual and household taxes, the Biden administration’s plans on taxing large corporations and businesses. This “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” is only one step towards a budget proposal being implemented in the upcoming year. Biden plans to hold corporations more responsible for paying their fair share. 

A senior at Silver Creek High School, Ethan Dang, says “That’s good, it’s gonna help the lower class and hopefully it gives back low income communities.” 

Regardless of Biden’s direction, members of Biden’s administration before have talked about taxes on the wealthy being impractical, and a direction towards preventing the rich from getting richer wouldn’t be favorable in the right-leaning majority in the Supreme court. There may need to be revisions on the bill for Congress to approve it.