Penny Wealth Tax
What We're Up Against
If you feel like you’re working harder than you ever have but taking home less, it’s because you are. The people who have the most, pay the least. And the people who have the least, pay the most. Up is down. And the Good Old Boys Club always wins–because they make the rules. This is true for our individual tax structure. This is true for our property tax structure. This is true for our corporate tax structure.
The following plan is simple. West Virginia should be the first state in the country to institute a wealth tax in modern times (for decades, we had an “intangible property” tax that served the same purpose… until the Good Old Boys Club ended it).
The Good Old Boys Club will tell us that they are being treated unfairly, that they are being “double-taxed” on this wealth. That is a lie. For generations, they’ve exploited tax havens and loopholes and political connections at our expense and their gain. It is time for them to finally pay their fair share.
Our Plan
A penny wealth tax on people with more than $2 million in nonresidential property assets would generate enough revenue to build the best education system in the country (child care for every working family, teacher and school service worker compensation to compete with neighboring states, higher education for every student, and debt relief for every West Virginian or out-of-stater working for the public good) and mount a world-leading response to the drug crisis.
No one politician or slate of candidates can win this plan alone. We need you.
If you have an idea for how to make this plan stronger, or if you would like to lend a hand to win it, contact our co-chair Stephen Smith at stephen@wvcantwait.com.