Biden Tax Plan Raises Majority of Money From Top 0.1% of Households, Study Finds

[highplainsdem]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-tax-plan-raises-majority-of-money-from-top-0-1-of-households-study-finds-11579790119

WASHINGTON—Former Vice President Joe Biden’s tax agenda would generate more than half its money from the top 0.1% of U.S. households, raising their average tax bills by more than $1 million and reducing their after-tax income by 14%, according to an estimate released Thursday from the Penn-Wharton Budget Model.

In all, the Democratic presidential contender’s tax-increase plans would raise $2.6 trillion over a decade before accounting for economic changes, the study said. That is about 81% of what the Biden campaign estimated, largely because the proposals interact with each other and have to be considered as one whole package to be analyzed correctly, said Penn-Wharton’s Kent Smetters.

“By historic standards, this is a pretty progressive tax increase,” he said.

The Penn-Wharton Budget Model, a non-partisan public policy analysis project at the University of Pennsylvania, hasn’t done full estimates of the tax plans of the other Democratic candidates.

Still, Mr. Biden’s proposed tax hikes to date are much more modest than those offered by his chief rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination—Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. All of their plans are estimated to raise trillions more in tax revenue than Mr. Biden’s plan.

In a study also released Thursday, the same group said Mr. Sanders wealth-tax plan would raise $3.3 trillion over a decade, about $1 trillion short of the campaign’s estimate.

The former vice president would raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, impose a minimum tax on profitable companies, tax unrealized capital gains at death, raise the top individual tax rate to 39.6%, limit deductions and make a series of other changes.

-snip-

“Biden has proposed unprecedented investments that will create good jobs, strengthen the middle class, make us more competitive with the rest of the world, and grow our economy,” the Biden campaign’s policy director, Stef Feldman, said in a statement. “He also has a plan to pay for all of these investments by ensuring that the highest earners and corporations pay their fair share.”

The tax agenda of a Democratic president would likely be limited by what can get through Congress. Even if Democrats control the House and Senate, the fate of any tax plan would likely be determined by the party’s most moderate members, such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. If Republicans hold the Senate, Democrats’ tax-hike plans would face a wall of opposition.

What we need is progressive tax reform that's also achievable.

A Biden presidency is our best chance for that.

[KPN]

1. Not enough. There needs to be a wealth tax to

recover even a share of the wealth that has been stolen via buying Washington DC lawmakers over the past 40 years by the .1%. Biden’s plan is a good step, but it’s a band aid. It stems the tide and is not sufficient to restore a reasonable economic balance across society.

[George II]

3. The wealth tax as proposed would be ruled unconstitutional.

[KPN]

5. Probably. So what's going to fix things in a

reasonable amount of time. At the current rate, the timeline is apparently never when one looks at the record over the past 50 years. We don’t have a lot of time before our society blows up. It’s going to take a whole lot more than raising income taxes back to levels they were less than 20 years ago. Incremental change is the type of leadership that got us to this precipice. It won’t stop us from going over.

[getagrip_already]

2. so bernie will pay? ;) nt

[Thekaspervote]

4. Oh..l great idea!!

[PETRUS]

6. For comparison:

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1219984812846379009&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F1287439833

[KPN]

7. +11111 Thank you for that!