Add It Up: Taxes Avoided by the Rich Could Pay Off the Deficit

Conservatives force the deficit issue, ignoring job creation, and insisting that tax increases on the rich wouldn’t generate enough revenue to balance the budget. They’re way off. But it takes a little arithmetic to put it all together. 

1. Individual and small business tax avoidance costs us $450 billion.
2. Corporate tax avoidance is between $250 billion.
3. Tax haven losses are at least $337 billion.

That’s enough to pay off a trillion dollar deficit. Reasonable tax changes could nearly pay it off a second time:

1. A non-regressive payroll tax could produce $150 billion in revenue.
2. A minimal estate tax brings in another $100 billion.
3. A financial transaction tax (FTT): up to $500 billion.

Add it all up, and we’ve paid off the deficit, almost twice. More importantly, the avoided taxes and a few other sensible taxes could provide sufficient revenue for job stimulus without cutting the hard-earned benefits of middle-class Americans.

Looks like a majority of the American people know how they would like things to be run…

think-progress:

FACT: The federal government is just about the same size today as it was in 1983.