Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testifies before the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee on “Online Platforms and Market Power” in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 29, 2020. Market Power” hearing before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men in the world. If Washington State passes a wealth tax proposal, he would owe about $2 billion a year in state taxes.
The bill would impose a 1 percent tax on financial intangibles, exempting the first $1 billion of assessed value.
Bezos’ net worth is estimated at around $200 billion.
The state Department of Revenue estimates that the bill would tax about a hundred billionaires and would bring in $2.5 billion a year, according to Rep. Noel Frame, a Democrat who helped draft the legislation.
Frame tweeted in response to a questioner that the analysis included confidential taxpayer data from the Internal Revenue Service and other information.
It was not clear whether the estimate included Bezos. Bezos “may not live here anymore,” Forrem said.
Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation estimates that 97 percent of the tax will come from four of the roughly dozen people whose taxes will be added, including Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer and Bezos’ ex-wife Mackenzie Scott. Mackenzie Scott, Bezos’ ex-wife.
Walczak suggested that one or more of this small group of people may have moved states to avoid taxes. They could spend up to 182 days a year in Washington state if they can prove their primary residence is another place.
Bezos, who will step down as Amazon’s chief executive later this year, has spent Time in Washington, D.C.; Gates retired from Microsoft; and Ballmer owns the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.
Lawmakers who support the proposed tax say the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share. And they point to data showing that the top 1 percent pay only 3 percent of total taxes.
“To jump-start our economy, provide resources to invest back into our communities and rebalance our upside-down tax code, let’s pass this sensible tax proposal on extraordinary profits.” Rep. Tana Senn, the state’s Democrat, said in a statement.
Lawmakers from New York and California have also proposed wealth taxes. President Joe Biden has proposed a wealth tax on the campaign trail, and some members of Congress have floated the idea as well.
Biden’s plan focuses on raising taxes on households earning more than $400,000. He wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, impose a minimum tax on booked income and raise the top personal income tax rate back to 39.6 percent. He also wants to force people earning more than $1 million to pay the same tax rate on investment income as they do on wages.
Recent Comments