Elizabeth Warren Introduces 'Wealth Tax' Aimed at America's Billionaires

Presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is proposing a new “wealth tax” on Americans with more than $50 million in assets, along with a significant increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in an effort to curb income and wealth inequality in America.

In a series of tweets shared from her official presidential campaign Twitter account, Warren outlined her plan.

“We need structural change. That’s why I’m proposing something brand new – an annual tax on the wealth of the richest Americans. I’m calling it the ‘Ultra-Millionaire Tax’ & it applies to that tippy top 0.1% – those with a net worth of over $50M,” Warren stated in one of the tweets.

The Washington Post reported that the proposal involves a two percent wealth tax on those with more than $50 million in assets, along with an additional three percent on those with more than $1 billion in assets.

Warren is currently working with, and being advised by, two left-leaning economists from the University of California, Berkeley.

Emmanuel Saez, who is one of the two advising Warren, says the proposal could raise $2.75 trillion over the course of ten years from taxing an estimated 75,000 families.

“The Warren wealth tax is pretty big. We think it could have a significant affect on wealth concentration in the long run,” Saez, told the Post.

Saez added, “This is a very interesting development with deep root causes: the fact inequality has been increasing so much, particularly in wealth, and the feeling our current tax system doesn’t do a very good job taxing the very richest people.”

A source also told the Post that Warren’s plan contains components that will work to combat tax evasion, which includes a mandatory audit rate requiring the IRS to audit a certain number of people who would pay a wealth tax. A one-time tax penalty would also be imposed on those who have more than $50 million in assets and attempt to renounce their U.S. citizenship.

Democrats have had a long history of going after billionaires, especially in recent times.

Earlier this month, freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she would like to place a 70 percent tax on top earners.

“But once you get to the tippie tops, on your ten millionth, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 percent or 70 percent. That doesn’t mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate. But it means that as you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.

Ocasio-Cortez said on Monday that a world that allows billionaires is immoral. The New Yorker also said she gives “zero” “fucks” about the pushback from senior Democrats who criticize her embrace of socialism and abrasive style of politics during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.