How to Tax the Ultra-Rich

There is only one short- or near-term policy to curb excessive wealth: tax policy.

For decades, a rigged tax system has allowed a massive accumulation of wealth by the top 0.2% of U.S. households, totaling something on the order of $40 trillion.

Most of the problems our nation faces are the direct result of excessive wealth inequality. We can begin to address these problems with effective tax policies that a) slow the accumulation of wealth through the income surtax and changes to the charitable tax deduction; b) reduce the amount of accumulated wealth with wealth taxes; and c) prevent excessive wealth from passing down to future generations, with reforms to the trust and estate tax laws.

Of course, tax policy changes also require enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in order to audit households that evade taxes, and to ensure that new legislation designed to curb excessive wealth is correctly implemented. But funding for the IRS has been severely cut back in recent years and must be restored.

We call the bucket of taxes laser-focused to reduce excessive wealth the URTs—ultra-rich taxes. Read more about them:

• Wealth Tax
• Income Surtax
• Estate Tax
• Charitable Tax Deduction

Our campaign division, Tax the Greedy Billionaires, is building support for policies to rein in excessive wealth – see how.