President Biden seeks minimum tax on billionaires as part of 2023 budget

According to a released U.S.White House budget office fact sheet, U. S. president Joe Biden intends to introduce a minimum tax of 20% on households worth more than $100 million and cut projected budget deficits by over $1 trillion over the next decade.

The proposal would affect almost 20,000 households. The new tax rate would apply only to those who do not pay at least 20% in tax on a aggregation of income as normally defined and their unrealized gains on unsold assets like stocks, bonds, and closely-held businesses. The plan would generate nearly $360 billion in revenue over ten years, according to the White House’s fact sheet released before Monday’s full budget proposal. The tax generated would be nearly twice as much money as raising the top individual income-tax rate to 39.6% from the existing 37%, affecting a significantly smaller group of people.

The proposed minimum tax would effectively prevent the wealthiest section of the American population from paying lower rates than families belonging to the middle class while helping to generate revenues to power Biden’s domestic ambitions and keep the nation’s deficit in check relative to its economy.

In the proposal expected on Monday, the lower deficits also reflect the resurgence of the U. S. economy as the nation emerges from the pandemic. It’s a sign that the U. S. government’s balance sheet will improve after a historic burst of spending to fight the coronavirus.