Manchin and Sinema, whose votes are critical for any partisan Democratic bill in the Senate, have rejected many of Biden’s prior tax proposals. Manchin has said he wants to reverse President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and favors higher taxes on the wealthy. However, he has criticized prior versions of Biden’s billionaire tax, saying they are overly complicated.
Sinema has also rejected any increases to the existing tax rates, including the 21% corporate levy and 37% top bracket for individuals. That puts her out of step with most other members of her party who support raising rates on large businesses and rich taxpayers as a way to fund more social spending.
The wealth of U.S. billionaires has surged during the pandemic. More than $5 trillion is held by Americans worth at least $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The wealth of this exclusive group -- more than 800 U.S. billionaires are tracked by the index -- has risen $1.56 trillion since the beginning of 2020, even after losing $169 billion so far in 2022. The vast majority of that increase is in the form of unrealized gains.
--With assistance from Ben Steverman.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.