Democrats propose more taxes to pay for Biden’s plan that would affect 700 wealthy people

After weeks of negotiations behind closed doors, the Democrats in the United States Senate revealed their proposal to raise taxes on billionaires and thus pay for the great social spending plan of US President Joe Biden.

The change in the tax code would affect those who earn more than US $ 100 million a year or whose assets are valued at more than US $ 1 billion, according to the proposal that the president of the Senate Finance committee announced in a statement on Tuesday, Democrat Ron Wyden.

In total, starting next year, about 700 Americans would have to pay more taxes if this change goes into effect.

Additionally, Wyden’s proposal includes a new 15% tax for higher-income businesses.

The objective of the so-called “income tax for billionaires”Is to avoid that the richest in the United States evade taxes, since currently these people do not have to declare to the treasury the profits they obtain from their investments until they are sold.

For example, those with shares in the stock market now do not pay taxes on their earnings, but the new proposal would change that.

Wyden, who for years has advocated raising taxes on the wealthiest, hopes his proposal will raise hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for Biden’s social spending program.

The American President “support that billionaire tax“And believes that it is legal to approve it, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday at her daily press conference.

“Americans who earn more can afford to pay a little more so they can make historic investments in our workers, our economy and our competitiveness.”, Emphasized Psaki.

The spokeswoman thus minimized the criticism of the plan issued by the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, who opined on Twitter that, if this plan is approved, it could end up harming more modest fortunes “if the money runs outFrom billionaires like him.

Democrats have yet to reach an agreement on what they will include in their social spending package, which was initially valued at about $ 3.5 trillion but whose size has been significantly reduced at the request of the centrist flank of the party.

Currently, the plan is expected to be valued at US $ 1.75 billion and serve to increase spending on health, childcare and climate change, among other issues.

For days now, Democrats have been negotiating against time to try to reach an agreement on that social package before Biden travels to Rome on Thursday for the G20 leaders’ summit, from where he will go to Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit.

Psaki assured this Wednesday that it is still “realistic“Wait for an agreement before Biden travels, but stressed that the president will not delay his trip to Rome if Congress does not reach a pact by Thursday morning.

An agreement on the social spending plan would pave the way for the approval in the Lower House of a US $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure law, which has already been endorsed by the Senate.

The Democratic leader of the Lower House, Nancy Pelosi, has set August 31 as the deadline to carry out the infrastructure law, since that day the funds destined for highways and other transit routes will expire.