Patriotic Millionaires: Billionaire Minimum Income Tax is “Exactly What This Country Needs”

Thursday, July 28

For Immediate Release

July 28, 2022

Patriotic Millionaires: Billionaire Minimum Income Tax is “Exactly What This Country Needs”

“The country is tired of stories about billionaires paying no taxes.”

Washington, DC –  Today, Representatives Steve Cohen and Don Beyer introduced the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax, a bill that would implement a 20% minimum tax on the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers, requiring households worth over $100 million to pay at least 20 percent in taxes on their entire income, including realized and unrealized gains.

Many ultra-billionaires pay a lower tax rate than the average middle-class worker. Tax reports leaked over the past year show the top 0.001% of wealthiest Americans pay a significantly lower tax rate in their income than the average American worker.

In response, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:

“The way we tax realized and unrealized capital gains has allowed some of the richest people in the world to pay significantly lower taxes than working Americans, but the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would simply and effectively put an end to this shameful status quo.

This isn’t about punishing wealth – I think that everyone should be a millionaire. But I think that those of us who have the good fortune to be the winners in our society should pay at least the same tax rates as those who work for a living. Ordinary Americans have taxes deducted from their paychecks every single week; and a 20% minimum tax is lower than the top tax rate for a single person earning $45,000 of income. Billionaires can clearly afford to pay this much, and they should be required to.

It’s completely ridiculous that Americans who work for a living are paying more in taxes than our nation’s billionaires. Trust in American institutions is lower than ever, and the American people are looking for lawmakers to show that they’re serious about un-rigging a system that gives special treatment to the wealthy. The country is tired of stories about billionaires paying no taxes. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax is exactly what this country needs, it’s time for Congress to step up and pass it.”

For additional information or interview requests, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.