奥巴马拟征“巴菲特税”
President Barack Obama, in a populist gesture designed to appeal to voters, will propose a "Buffett Tax" on people making more than $1 million a year as part of his deficit recommendations to Congress on Monday。
Such a proposal, among suggestions to a congressional Super Committee expected to seek up to $3 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years, would appeal to his Democratic base ahead of the 2012 election but likely not raise much in revenues。
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a tweet on Saturday the tax would act as "a kind of AMT" (Alternative Minimum Tax) aimed at ensuring millionaires pay at least as much tax as middle-class families。
The "Buffett Tax" refers to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who wrote earlier this year that rich people like him often pay less in tax than those who work for them due to loopholes in the taxcode, and can afford to pay more。
Obama will lay out his recommendations in White House Rose Garden remarks at 10.30 am on Monday and is expected to urge steps to raise tax revenue as well as cuts in spending。
But Congress is at liberty to ignore his suggestions and Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have said that they will not agree to tax hikes。
The super committee of six Democrat and six Republican lawmakers must find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings before the end of the year to avoid painful automatic cuts, and is mandated to seek savings of up to $1.5 trillion。
These savings are on top of $917 billion in deficit reduction agreed in an August deal to raise the debt limit and Obama wants it to go further。
He has separately urged it to consider $450 billion in tax increases on top of this goal to pay for a jobs bill that he unveiled earlier this month。
The Buffett Tax could help energize Obama's base by highlighting a feature of the tax code that allows the super rich to pay lower rates of tax than less wealthy Americans because the bulk of their income is capital gains, dividends and the 'carried interest' earnings of hedge fund managers。
This is taxed at 15 percent, compared to rates of 10 to 35 percent on straightforward income。
美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马将于本周一向国会提出减赤计划，其中建议向年收入超过百万美元的富人征收“巴菲特税”。奥巴马一向以平民姿态现身，以博得选民喜爱。
此项建议将连同其它提议一起提交给国会“特别委员会”，目的是实现未来十年内减赤3万亿美元的目标。这在2012年总统大选前对奥巴马所在的民主党阵营很有吸引力，但对增加税收效果有限。
白宫新闻主任丹•普费弗上周六在推特上说，这项税收将成为一种“最少可选择性税”(AMT)，旨在确保富豪所纳税款不少于中产阶级家庭。
“巴菲特税”来源于亿万富豪、投资大亨沃伦•巴菲特。他在前段时间发文指出，由于税法有漏洞，像他这样的富豪比自己的员工所缴纳的税款还要少，而他们本可以缴纳更多。
奥巴马总统将于本周一上午十点半在白宫玫瑰园提出这些建议，人们估计他在敦促增税的同时，还将建议削减支出。
但白宫有权不予采纳，而且掌控众议院的共和党人已经表态，将否决增税计划。
“特别委员会”包括六名民主党人和六名共和党人，他们必须在年底前就减赤1.2万亿美元达成协议，否则将引发恼人的自动削减机制。而该委员会的任务是减赤1.5万亿。
此外，今年八月，美国两党达成削减9170亿美元支出的协议，以提高债务上限，奥巴马总统希望可以进一步增收。
奥巴马在本月早些时候还提出增税4500亿美元来实行就业刺激方案，并敦促国会尽快通过。
“巴菲特税”指出，根据现有税法，超级富豪比美国中产阶级所缴纳的税率更低，因为他们的大部分收入是资本收益、红利、以及对冲基金经理的“附带权益”所得。提出征收“巴菲特税”能为奥巴马阵营加油打气。
以上收入的征税比例为15%，而直接收入的征税比例为10%至35%。