Corporations and the ultra-rich have manipulated the federal tax code to drain money from the economy, reduce investments in rural communities, and look the other way as corporations get richer. We’ve suffered from years of tax breaks to the wealthiest households and largest corporations, and we’re facing a more and more extreme two-tiered tax system in which billionaires and some corporations pay lower tax rates than middle-class workers. Funding for our communities starts by requiring the ultrawealthy to pay their fair share.
Fix the Unfair Two-Tier Tax System
- Require billionaires to pay a minimum tax, raise corporate tax rates, end tax breaks for offshoring jobs, and reverse the giveaways to the ultrawealthy in the 2025 tax policy, including outrageous deductions and lowered corporate tax rates.
- The 2021-2022 Congress required large corporations that make over $1 billion annually to pay a corporate minimum tax and finally required wealthy households making over $400,000 annually to pay what they owe in taxes after years of tax-dodging. But these gains were overshadowed by the massive tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy in 2025.
- Provide tax breaks for small businesses and prioritize middle-class and working-class businesses.1
- Social Security has been a vital source of income for families across the country. It’s a promise that every generation makes. We take care of our older adults, and when it’s our time, we expect to get the same care. We can support today’s seniors and the next generation by making the wealthy pay their fair share and eliminating the payroll cap. Furthermore, we need to ensure rural recipients have easy access to their benefits. Local Social Security offices and phone lines need to be properly staffed by people, not artificial intelligence.
Notes
- The Mom and Pop Tax Relief Act focuses 199A tax relief to small business owners with adjusted gross incomes less than $400,000 for joint filers and less than $200,000 for single filers. In the status quo, the wealthiest businesses get significantly more of a tax break than the typical business. For example, the wealthiest 5% of businesses receive 74% of the total 199A tax break funds. Claimants with Adjusted Gross Incomes of less than $100,000 took home an average deduction of just under $2,000 while the wealthiest taxpayers took home average deductions of over $1 million.