WASHINGTON – Senator Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat and the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, expressed his support of the billionaire income tax.
Wyden’s statement came after Elon Musk asked his followers whether he should sell his Tesla stock. Last Sunday, at least 58% of the people voted in favor of Musk selling his stocks.
Because of Musk’s portfolio value, selling at least 10% of his stock would raise at least $21 billion in taxes.
The billionaire tax rate requires billionaires to pay capital gains as prices go up even if they do not sell their shares. This tax rate would also help the Joe Biden administration raise at least $1.75 trillion for healthcare, social care, and climate crisis initiatives.
Currently, there are two tax codes in effect. The income tax requires workers to pay taxes from their paycheck, while the second tax code allows billionaires to defer taxes for years.
The revised billionaire income tax would require billionaires to pay taxes every year. Wyden said it is unfair for the middle class to pay their taxes while the billionaires avoid them.
According to Elon Musk’s Twitter post, most of his income comes from shares in his company. Since Musk does not receive a salary or bonus, the billionaire promised to abide by the poll’s results.
Other people expressed their disdain for Musk’s decision to pay taxes based on the comments of his Twitter followers.
According to Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman, he looks forward to “the richest person in the world paying some tax” without hearing the public’s opinion before doing so.
