A bill introduced on Monday would impose a 5 percent annual wealth tax on U.S. billionaires and direct $3,000 cash payments to millions of Americans.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna unveiled the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which would levy the tax on individuals with at least $1 billion in assets and use the projected revenue to finance a series of social spending programs, including the proposed cash payments. Sanders’s office estimated the measure could raise about $4.4 trillion over 10 years.
Under the bill, every man, woman, and child in a household earning $150,000 or less would receive a one-time $3,000 direct payment in the first year, supporters said, translating to $12,000 for a family of four. Sanders and Khanna said the wealth tax would not apply to anyone with a net worth below $1 billion.
“In its first year, the bill would provide a $3,000 direct payment to every man, woman and child in a household making $150,000 or less,” Sanders and Khanna said in a joint news release announcing the legislation. “We can tax billionaires a modest amount to make sure everyone has a fair chance while keeping our innovative engine.”
Sanders said the tax would target roughly 938 of the wealthiest individuals in the United States, whose collective estimated net worth exceeds $8 trillion, according to the lawmakers. They said the measure would generate revenue for the cash payments and other provisions aimed at reversing funding cuts and expanding social programs.
My 5% billionaire wealth tax will raise $4.4 trillion to:
✔ Give $3,000 to everyone in a household making $150,000 or less
✔ Build 7 million homes & apartments
✔ Enact a $60,000 minimum teacher salary
✔ Expand Medicare for dental, vision & hearing
And much more…
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 3, 2026
The bill’s text stipulates that revenue from the wealth tax also would be used to reverse roughly $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, extend Medicare coverage for dental, vision and hearing care, and support construction and preservation of affordable housing, among other uses.
“We have a deep economic divide in this country,” Khanna said in the release. “Families are struggling to cover the cost of health care, housing and basic needs. A measured tax on extreme wealth offers a way to invest in working families.”
Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman at the University of California, Berkeley, provided an analysis cited by the bill’s sponsors, estimating the tax could generate approximately $4.4 trillion over the next decade. Their analysis projected that the wealth tax could help “close the gap between wealth growth for billionaires and income growth for the average American family,” the lawmakers said.
High-profile billionaires such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos were identified by the sponsors as potentially owing substantial sums under the proposed wealth tax. According to the release, Musk’s tax bill could exceed $40 billion in the first year.
Despite supporters’ estimates of significant revenue and payments to taxpayers, the legislation faces substantial obstacles. Analysts said a wealth tax of this nature has historically struggled to gain traction in Congress, particularly with House and Senate Republican majorities opposed to new taxes on high-net-worth individuals.
Critics have said that imposing a new annual tax on wealth could present administrative challenges and potential legal hurdles, including valuation disputes and questions about enforcement. Some economists have argued such a tax could influence investment patterns or capital allocation.
Supporters of the bill described the proposal as a marker for future policy debates, particularly ahead of the 2028 presidential election cycle, where questions about economic inequality and tax policy are expected to feature prominently.
