Billionaires Income Tax Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill defines short title and table of contents establishing the Billionaires Income Tax Act to require annual taxation of billionaires by eliminating buy-borrow-die strategies, defines states the purpose of the Act: to require billionaires to pay taxes annually through mark-to-market taxation and by closing the buy-borrow-die loophole, and adds new Part IX to Internal Revenue Code requiring applicable taxpayers to recognize gain/loss on tradable assets annually and face deferral recapture on non-tradable assets. It relies on tax rate changes, definition changes, reporting requirements, and compliance mandates. The main policy areas are Finance, Taxation, and Technology.
Who Benefits and How
Federal Treasury could gain revenue opportunities, Applicable taxpayers with primary residences could see lower costs, and Applicable taxpayers with capital losses from market downturns could see lower costs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Ultra-high-net-worth individuals using buy-borrow-die strategies could face higher costs, Ultra-high-net-worth individuals meeting $100M threshold could face higher costs, and Owners of stocks, bonds, and derivatives on established markets could face higher costs.
Key Provisions
- Defines short title and table of contents establishing the Billionaires Income Tax Act to require annual taxation of billionaires by eliminating buy-borrow-die strategies.
- Defines states the purpose of the Act: to require billionaires to pay taxes annually through mark-to-market taxation and by closing the buy-borrow-die loophole.
- Adds new Part IX to Internal Revenue Code requiring applicable taxpayers to recognize gain/loss on tradable assets annually and face deferral recapture on non-tradable assets.
- Creates core provision requiring annual mark-to-market taxation of tradable covered assets, recognition at year-end, and treatment as long-term capital gains.
- Creates details treatment of tradable covered assets: gain/loss recognized at fair market value on taxable event date, treated as long-term capital gain/loss with basis adjustments.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill defines short title and table of contents establishing the Billionaires Income Tax Act to require annual taxation of billionaires by eliminating buy-borrow-die strategies, defines states the purpose of the Act: to require billionaires to pay taxes annually through mark-to-market taxation and by closing the buy-borrow-die loophole, and adds new Part IX to Internal Revenue Code requiring applicable taxpayers to recognize gain/loss on tradable assets annually and face deferral recapture on non-tradable assets.
Key Policy Areas
Finance, Taxation, Technology
Primary Purpose
The bill defines short title and table of contents establishing the Billionaires Income Tax Act to require annual taxation of billionaires by eliminating buy-borrow-die strategies, defines states the purpose of the Act: to require billionaires to pay taxes annually through mark-to-market taxation and by closing the buy-borrow-die loophole, and adds new Part IX to Internal Revenue Code requiring applicable taxpayers to recognize gain/loss on tradable assets annually and face deferral recapture on non-tradable assets.
Policy Domains
Title I - Mark-to-Market Taxation
Identified Gains
- Federal Treasury
- Applicable taxpayers with primary residences
- Applicable taxpayers with capital losses from market downturns
Identified Costs
- Ultra-high-net-worth individuals using buy-borrow-die strategies
- Ultra-high-net-worth individuals meeting $100M threshold
- Owners of stocks, bonds, and derivatives on established markets
- Holders of publicly traded securities meeting applicable taxpayer threshold
- Heirs of billionaires
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, Mr. Sanders, …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Applicable taxpayers (individuals with $100M+ wealth or $10M+ income), Applicable taxpayers using life insurance for tax deferral, Applicable taxpayers with capital losses from market downturns
Positive-direction: Applicable taxpayers with capital losses from market downturns
Negative-direction: Applicable taxpayers (individuals with $100M+ wealth or $10M+ income), Applicable taxpayers using life insurance for tax deferral, Applicable taxpayers with investment income, Billionaires holding publicly traded securities, Family offices managing pass-through structures, High-income individuals meeting $10M income threshold, Holders of publicly traded securities meeting applicable taxpayer threshold, Life insurance and annuity issuers, Life insurance companies offering policies to wealthy individuals, Newly-qualifying applicable taxpayers, Opportunity zone fund managers, Owners of private company stock, Owners of stocks, bonds, and derivatives on established markets, Partnerships with billionaire owners, Pass-through entities with billionaire owners transferring assets, Private equity fund managers with carried interest, US beneficiaries of foreign trusts, Ultra-high-net-worth individuals meeting $100M threshold, Ultra-high-net-worth individuals using buy-borrow-die strategies
Corporate executives with large deferred compensation packages, Employers paying large deferred compensation, Executives with deferred compensation exceeding $100M
Federal Treasury, Heirs of billionaires, Trust beneficiaries receiving appreciated property
Positive-direction: Federal Treasury
Negative-direction: Heirs of billionaires, Trust beneficiaries receiving appreciated property, Wealthy individuals renouncing US citizenship or residency
Applicable taxpayers with primary residences, Holders of real estate and other illiquid assets, Wealthy investors using opportunity zone investments for tax deferral
Positive-direction: Applicable taxpayers with primary residences
Negative-direction: Holders of real estate and other illiquid assets, Wealthy investors using opportunity zone investments for tax deferral
Estate planning attorneys and wealth advisors, Offshore trust planners and administrators
Trust administrators for applicable taxpayer trusts
Founders of successful startups meeting applicable taxpayer threshold
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Year-end holding of tradable assets OR any disregarded nonrecognition event (transfers that would normally defer gain)
Interest on deferred taxes calculated from when gain first accrued until asset is sold
Partnership, S corporation, or other pass-through entity subject to reporting requirements when owned by applicable taxpayers
Individual with net worth of $100 million+ OR adjusted gross income of $10 million+ (based on 3-year lookback)
Assets traded on established securities markets (stocks, bonds, derivatives) - subject to annual mark-to-market
Covered assets not traded on established markets - subject to deferral recapture upon sale
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology