Van Hollen, Beyer Applaud Inclusion of Millionaires Surtax in House Reconciliation Proposal

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) applauded the House Ways & Means Committee’s passage of a millionaires surtax within their budget reconciliation proposal. Senator Van Hollen and Representative Beyer initially introduced this concept in their Millionaires Surtax Act in November 2019 and reintroduced this legislation in June of this year. 

“Right now, everyday Americans are shouldering our nation’s tax burden and face a growing opportunity gap that is harder and harder to overcome. It’s time to right this wrong – and to fix this, the very wealthy must do more to help our entire country succeed. Including a millionaires surtax in our Build Back Better Budget is a key way to bring greater equity to our tax system and will allow us to invest in policies that bring more prosperity and opportunity to all Americans,” said Senator Van Hollen. 

“The millionaires surtax we proposed would require the wealthiest to pay their fair share of the tax burden and help shoulder the cost of building a better society. It has an elegant simplicity, capturing all income without loopholes or carveouts for the rich, and it only affects millionaires, raising billions we always hoped would be spent on priorities like the investments in the Build Back Better Act. I commend Chairman Neal for including a version of this policy proposal in the bill, and my colleagues for supporting it. This will help restore equity to our tax code, and pay for things like the expanded Child Tax Credit, universal paid leave, and the fight against climate change that make a big difference in Americans’ lives,” said Representative Beyer.

As passed by the Committee, the millionaires surtax would impose a 3% tax on incomes over $5 million, raising $127 billion over 10 years.