The bill should bring in $ 3 trillion to rebuild the economy and combat inequality by imposing a 2% annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts of between $ 50 million and $ 1 billion. Billionaires would have to pay a tax of 3%.
“We designed this wealth tax by building on the experiences of other countries that have drafted a wealth tax and have not always been successful,” Warren said in the interview. “We saw where the mistakes were and made sure we tightened it up.”
$ 100 billion to the IRS to fight tax fraud
Critics argue that taxing wealth would be challenging, if not unconstitutional. In particular, there are concerns about how to value assets and how to prevent the rich from hiding their money abroad
“People say, ‘Well, rich people cheat, so we shouldn’t even try to tax wealth,” Warren said. “But when rich people cheat, it doesn’t mean we should just give up and make them pay taxes at lower rates than everyone else. That means we need to hire more enforcement and make them follow the rules.”
Warren’s wealth comes with teeth.
The legislation has a built-in check rate of 30%, which means that nearly a third of all households are checked every year. And the bill calls for the IRS’s budget to be increased by $ 100 billion to build the agency’s audit firepower and modernize IT systems.
The Warren Plan also proposes a 40% “exit rate” on the net worth of more than $ 50 million of every US citizen who renounces his citizen in order to avoid the tax.
“Once you put the wealth tax in place it’s not that hard to keep an eye on year after year. If you owned real estate last year, you better own that same property this year or have a lot of cash you brought in a sale, ”Warren said.
Fairness in the tax system
When asked if President Joe Biden is in the mood for a wealth tax, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at Monday’s press conference that Biden is “strongly convinced that the ultra-wealthy and corporations should finally start paying their fair share. “.
“He has put a lot of ideas on the table and when we get to that point in our agenda, he looks forward to working with [Warren] and others in Congress, ” said Psaki.
In other words, the White House didn’t rule it out.
Last year, the bottom 99% of households paid about 7.2% of their total assets in taxes, according to Warren. However, the top tenth of 1% paid only 3.2% of their assets in taxes.
Warren said there is bipartisan support for a wealth tax among voters, including a majority of independents and Republicans.
“They understand how unfair the current system is,” she said.
The minimum wage of $ 15
“I would like to see us pass the minimum wage through reconciliation,” Warren said, referring to the budget process that requires just a simple majority. “And I will fight for that.”
When asked about Manchin and other moderates who oppose popular measures like the $ 15 minimum wage, Warren focused on what Democrats agree on.
“Democrats want us to raise the minimum wage,” she said. “We need to talk more about exactly what the level is and how to do it. But we want the minimum wage to go up.”