A majority of wealthy Americans are signaling support for President Joe Biden’s plan to raise taxes on the rich, and they are even more eager than his administration to impose taxes on the world’s super-rich, a new poll has found.
A YouGov poll of Americans with more than $1 million in assets, not including homes, found that nearly 60% favor raising marginal taxes on income above $100 million above the current rate of 37%, according to the YouGov poll. Financial Times.
The poll also found that 62% of American millionaires support global efforts to prevent billionaires from fleeing higher-tax countries.
Moreover, 59% support a proposal to require the world’s billionaires to pay taxes of at least 2% of their total wealth each year. This is an idea that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen opposes in its current form.
“We believe in progressive taxation. But the idea of some kind of general global agreement to tax billionaires while redistributing income in some way – we do not support a process aimed at achieving that goal. This is something we can’t sign up for,” she told the magazine Wall Street Journal last month.
The poll comes as taxes become a key issue in the 2024 elections. Biden has said he wants to raise the top marginal rate to 39.6%, which would apply to single households with incomes above $400,000 and married couples with combined incomes above $450,000. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said he wants to extend the tax cuts he passed as president. Otherwise, they will expire at the end of next year. Biden will also extend those cuts, except for the wealthy.
Billionaire Warren Buffett has long advocated for those who can pay more in taxes to do so, famously telling his secretary: paid a higher tax rate than he did it.
Meanwhile, other billionaires are lining up behind both candidates. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and Miriam Adelson support Trump, and Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman reportedly leaning toward supporting Trump too much. Tim Mellonheir to the Mellon fortune, recently announced a $50 million donation to a pro-Trump super PAC.
Also last week, billionaire and philanthropist Melinda French Gates endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time, voicing her support for Biden in CNN article. And Michael Bloomberg announced a $20 million donation to support Biden.
Separate FT-Michigan Ross A poll of US voters found that 45% of the richest people think Biden is better for the economy, topping the 40% who think Trump would be better, according to the FT.