According to media reports, the administration of US President Joe Biden will propose a minimum tax for the wealthiest US citizens in its draft budget for 2023.
The "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" would require the roughly 700 US households with assets of more than $100 million to pay at least 20 percent of their total income, the Washington Post and other US media reported Saturday, citing a document from the White House.
"This minimum tax would ensure that the wealthiest Americans would no longer pay a lower tax rate than teachers and firefighters," the document quoted by the Post said.
A fall Biden administration study found that between 2010 and 2018, 400 billionaire households paid an average of just 8.2 percent in taxes on their income -- a rate often well below that of many US households.
The tax would also target unrealized capital gains on liquid assets such as stocks, which would only be taxed when sold.
$360 billion in ten years
The new measure, which requires Congressional approval to come into effect, could bring in up to $360 billion in new revenue over 10 years, the document cited by the Post said.
For example, Tesla founder Elon Musk would have to pay $50 billion in additional taxes, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would have to pay around $35 billion more, according to economist Gabriel Zucman.