BILL: Should We Tax Wall Street Speculations? - The Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act of 2023 - H.R.4119
Tell your reps to support or oppose this bill
The Bill
H.R.4119 - Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act
Bill Details
- Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) on June 14, 2023
- Companion legislation sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Senate
- Committees: House - Ways and Means
- House: Not yet voted
- Senate: Not yet voted
- President: Not yet signed
Bill Overview
- Imposes an excise tax on certain trading transactions to invest in American families and communities, improve infrastructure and environment, expand economic opportunity, and reduce market volatility. The tax will go towards free tuition under Lee and Sanders' co-sponsored free college bill.
- Levies a tax of 0.5% on stock trades, a 0.1% fee on bonds, and a 0.005% fee on derivatives and other financial instruments.
- Provides an income tax credit to offset the financial transaction tax for individuals with incomes less than $50,000 and married couples with incomes less than $75,000.
- Economic analysis of this proposal has estimated that it would raise $220 billion per year or well over $2 trillion over 10 years.
What's in the Bill
Payback for 2008 bailouts
- Taxpayers provided Wall Street with the largest bailout in history following the 2008 financial crash: $700 billion from the Treasury Department and $16 trillion in total financial assistance from the Federal Reserve.
Promotes financial justice
- Since the 2008 recession, 45% of all new income has gone to the top 1% of earners who disproportionately hold their wealth in stocks, bonds, and derivatives on Wall Street.
- This tax would fall primarily on wealthy high-frequency traders who make up 50-60% of all U.S. market trading.
- Reduces the destabilizing economic risk associated with high-frequency trading.
- Since 1985, Wall Street bonuses have surged by 1,165%.
Acknowledges historical examples
- Dozens of countries have imposed a financial transactions tax, including the U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland, China, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Brazil.
- The U.S. had a Wall Street speculation tax from 1914 to 1966. In 1914, the tax was 0.02% on sales or transfers of stock. In 1932, Congress more than doubled that tax to help finance the government during the Great Depression.
What Supporters Are Saying
- Supporters claim the bill would reform the U.S.'s inequitable taxation system and ensure the wealthy pay their fair share to the American people.
- Over 1,000 economists, including Jeffery Sachs and Dean Baker, have endorsed a tax on financial speculation. Over 165 organizations, including Oxfam America, Public Citizen, and the Sierra Club, support the tax.
- Rep. Lee said:
"Since 1985, Wall Street bonuses have surged by 1,165 percent, even as wages have stagnated for most Americans. It is past time for Wall Street to pay society back for the incredible damage it did in 2008—and continues to do—to the middle class of this country. This financial transaction tax is a critical step towards making the wealthy pay their fair share and building a financial system that works for everyone, not just the 1 percent."
"Let us never forget: Back in 2008, middle class taxpayers bailed out Wall Street speculators whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, life savings, and ability to send their kids to college. Now that giant financial institutions are back to making record-breaking profits while millions of Americans struggle to pay rent and feed their families, it is Wall Street's turn to rebuild the middle class by paying a modest financial transactions tax."
What Opponents Are Saying
- According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report from 2011, financial transaction taxes "raise the cost of financing new investment… [and] reduce output and employment."
- John Cochrane, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said:
"It'll induce some very clever financial innovation of how to get around it because there's ways to trade without incurring the tax, and, as a result, I don't think it'll gain much revenue."
Tell your reps to support or oppose this bill
-Emma Kansiz
(Photo Credit: Canva)
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Greeting I hope you're doing well. I can see that you're looking for donations faster, and that's a great cause! But have you connecting with philanthropists who might be interested in supporting your campaign before?
ABSOLUTELY. Just how big a hit is it to only wriggle $99 Billion instead of $100 Billion out of loop holes for interfering with public markets, promoting and selling trash derivatives (like those that caused to 'too big tio fail' financial crisis in the 90's), and a lot of insider trading. Yes they have a lot of money to buy favor; They can give back a little to support the public who ultimately lets them operate with huge profitability.
Pass thei now! It is way over due since the 2008 Wall Street bail out!
10 countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK) currently tax financial instruments transactions (stocks, bonds, derivatives, etc) that raise revenues funded by the 1% that in the US benefited from 2017 Tax Legislation that added $4T to the national debt.
Currently there are 17 cosponsors, all democrats so it is unlikely to pass in a Republican controlled House unless moderate Republicans cross over and vote for it which is highly unlikely given the number of financial industry campaign contributors that exist.
"TPC estimates that a hypothetical 0.1 percent tax on sales of equities and bonds (and 0.01 percent on derivatives) would raise over $50 billion per year...Three-quarters of the tax would fall on the highest-income 20 percent of households, and 40 percent would be paid by taxpayers in the top 1 percent."
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4119/cosponsors
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-uneasy-case-for-a-financial-transaction-tax/
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/financial-transaction-taxes-europe-2021/
Yes. It is more than past time for the wealthy to start being taxed like the rest of us. The trickle down effect has NEVER worked and it's high time they start paying!
It's time for the wealthy to pay their fair share, and this is a small tax burden in the scheme of all the money most wealthy are not paying in taxes.
I fully support this effort to pay back all the bailouts we've given Wall Street and corporate America and increase the ability to invest in the American people.
While I'll be the first to state I don't really understand the whole Wall St. shit, given the crap they've pulled over the years, I'd probably support, but need someone to explain the bill further in order to make an informed response. So, consider this a comment based on dislike of Wall St. practices.
No.
I wholeheartedly support H.R.4119 - Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act. It is time for Wall Street to look out for the very people who bailed them out of the financial crisis they created!
Representative and Senators,
It is absolutely essential to strongly support and quickly pass H.R.4119 / S. 1990—Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act.
Briefly, the Bill will impose a tax on certain trading transactions. That revenue would be used to invest in our families and communities, improve our infrastructure and our environment, strengthen our financial security, expand opportunity, and reduce market volatility.
• When passed can expect the bill to raise revenue for public investments, such as free college tuition, infrastructure, health care, and environmental protection.
• The bill would make the tax system more progressive and fair, by taxing the wealthy who benefit from the financial markets and reducing the tax burden on low- and middle-income households.
• The bill would reduce the risk of financial instability and speculation, by discouraging high-frequency trading and excessive leverage that can cause market crashes and bubbles.
• The bill follows the example of many other countries that have implemented a financial transaction tax, such as the U.K., France, Germany, and, even China. The U.S. also had a similar tax from 1914 to 1966.
References:
Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Senator Bernie Sanders Introduce Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-and-senator-bernie-sanders-introduce-tax-on-wall-street-speculation-act-of-2023
H.R.4119 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4119/all-info
S.1990 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1990?
The Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act of 2023 https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/TheTaxonWallStreetSpeculation2023Fact.pdf
Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act - National Nurses United. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/sites/default/files/nnu/documents/0421_TaxOnWallStreet_RHT_Federal_FactSheet.pdf
Absolutely, YES!