TAXATION

Problem

The U.S. tax system currently favors wealth over labor.

Individuals and entities with greater resources have a lower overall tax contribution, while working families and small businesses bear a disproportionate share.

What the data shows:

The wealthiest 400 Americans pay an effective tax rate of under 9 percent.
Middle-class households pay significantly higher rates.
Dozens of profitable corporations pay zero federal income tax.
Corporations avoid an estimated $100 billion annually through loopholes and offshore accounting.
The U.S. loses over $1 trillion per year to tax evasion, avoidance, and giveaways — money that could fund healthcare, housing, clean energy, and childcare.

Working families pay:

Payroll taxes
Sales taxes
Property taxes
State and local taxes

Meanwhile, billionaires avoid:

Payroll taxes
Capital gains until they choose to sell
Estate and inheritance taxes
Corporate tax responsibility

The system deepens inequality and starves public goods, rewarding hoarding and corporate extraction.

Solutions

1. Tax the ultra-rich and dynastic wealth

A billionaire minimum tax on annual unrealized gains
Wealth tax on fortunes above $50 million
Close dynasty trust and foundation loopholes
Restore estate taxation for ultra-large inheritances.

Impact: These measures ensure the ultra-wealthy pay tax each generation, preventing long-term tax avoidance and promoting greater tax fairness.

2. Make corporations pay their share

Raise the corporate tax rate with carveouts for small businesses.
Minimum tax on massive firms regardless of accounting tricks
End write-offs for offshoring jobs
Ban shell companies in tax havens
Require country-by-country transparency of corporate profits.

Impact: These actions ensure large corporations pay taxes regardless of loopholes, supporting fair competition for local businesses and funding for public priorities.

3. End preferential treatment for income from wealth

Tax capital gains like wages
Close the carried-interest loophole.
Tax stock buybacks and massive executive compensation
Treat extremely large inheritances as taxable income.

Impact: Equating taxes on income from wealth and work brings equitable tax burdens, ensuring both labor and investment face the same standards.

4. Reduce tax burdens for workers and small businesses

Expand Earned Income and Child Tax Credits permanently.
Zero federal tax liability for low-income workers
Deductions and credits for co-ops, gig workers, and independents
Simplified filing and free public e-file
Portable benefits across jobs

Impact: These reforms lower taxes for working families and small businesses, increasing disposable income and supporting entrepreneurship.

5. Redirect tax dollars from extraction to public good

Shift funds away from:

Fossil fuel subsidies
Corporate welfare
Bloated defense contracts

Into:

Universal healthcare
Affordable housing
Free preschool and community college
Public transit and green infrastructure
Tribal, rural, and frontline community investment

Impact: Redirecting tax spending toward public priorities delivers noticeable benefits to infrastructure, education, and community well-being, improving Americans' daily lives.

6. Enforce the law

Restore IRS capacity to audit high-wealth filers.
Aggressively prosecute evasion among the top 1 percent.
Limit lobbyist and corporate influence in the drafting of tax law.
Publish transparent annual reports on where tax expenditures go.

Impact: Enhanced enforcement boosts tax compliance and trust in the system, ensuring the wealthiest contribute fairly and deterring evasion.

Bottom Line

The primary issue in the American tax system is not revenue, but fairness.

When billionaires and corporations opt out, families and small businesses pay the price.

We can build a system where:

Work is rewarded
Wealth contributes
Communities thrive
Public goods are fully funded.

Taxation is a civic responsibility in a democracy, and the wealthiest should be included.

A fair tax system promotes a more inclusive and broadly beneficial economy.