Taxation — A Fair System That Funds the Common Good

The American tax system is fundamentally inverted. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison each paid near-zero federal income taxes in years when their wealth grew by billions — all legal. Billionaires use strategies unavailable to wage earners to avoid taxation entirely, while the tax code applies its full weight to people who earn a paycheck.

The primary mechanism is 'Buy, Borrow, Die.' Ultra-wealthy families hold appreciating assets forever, borrow against them tax-free (loans aren't income), and at death pass them to heirs via stepped-up basis — erasing every dollar of lifetime gain from the tax code. ProPublica's IRS Files investigation documented exactly how this works.

IRS enforcement collapse enables all of it. Millionaire audit rates dropped 70% between 2010 and 2019, while low-income Earned Income Tax Credit claimants are audited 5.5× more often. The tax code effectively applies only to wage earners, not to wealth holders.

Corporate profit shifting compounds the inversion. Major corporations claim profits in Ireland and the Cayman Islands larger than those jurisdictions' entire economies. 55 Fortune 500 companies paid $0 in federal income tax in 2020 despite being profitable.

Working families see immediate relief. Every income bracket under $400K is protected at current rates or lower. The Child Tax Credit expands to $3,600 per child and becomes fully refundable. The Earned Income Tax Credit's phase-out range is expanded. The mortgage interest deduction is preserved for primary residences up to $750,000. Every working-class tax credit is protected and expanded.

Small businesses are held harmless. Mark-to-market on unrealized gains applies only to net worth above $100M — the $10M business owner is untouched. Capital gains below $1M/year retain their preferential rates. The small-business R&D credit is expanded for companies under $50M in revenue. The plan targets dynastic wealth, not entrepreneurship.

Public services finally get funded. The $13.85T in ten-year revenue directly pays for Medicare for All transition ($3.5T net), debt-free public college ($800B), universal childcare (~$700B), infrastructure investment (~$2T), and affordable housing — while closing 70% of the projected deficit gap. No new program launches until the revenue stream is operational.

Audit equity is restored. The current 5.5× disparity in audit rates between low-income families and millionaires is eliminated. Enforcement effort moves where the real money is. Whistleblower rewards double — from 15% to 30% of recovered revenue — incentivizing detection of ultra-wealthy evasion.