Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., reintroduced Wednesday the Millionaires Surtax Act, which would levy an additional 10% tax on incomes above $2 million for married couples or above $1 million for individuals — applying equally to wages and salaries as well as to capital gains and other investment income.
The bill would raise substantial revenue for critical needs from the richest 1% of taxpayers, the lawmakers said. The nonpartisan Yale Budget Lab estimates the surtax would raise $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
The surtax "applies to salaries, wages, and private business profits currently taxed at a 37% rate; and returns on all investments, such as long-term capital gains and dividends, currently taxed at 20%," according to the lawmakers.
A similar millionaire surtax framework is also a core component of Van Hollen and Beyer's Working Americans' Tax Cut Act.
The Tax Policy Center estimates the bill would raise $635 billion over 10 years.
"The Millionaires Surtax is an urgently needed plan to restore fairness to the tax code, fight accelerating inequality, and fund important priorities for the American people," Beyer said in a statement. "The Republican tax cuts in the first and now the second Trump term, as we feared, have led to enormous benefits for the wealthy."
Added Van Hollen: "Our federal tax code is stacked in favor of the wealthy, especially those who make their money off of money — while disfavoring working Americans who are living paycheck-to-paycheck."
A recent poll of likely 2026 voters in battleground districts found that 58% supported a millionaires surtax, Van Hollen and Beyer said. Another survey from early 2026 found that "over seven in ten midterm voters are in favor of increasing taxes on the wealthiest individuals, including over half of those who voted for Donald Trump in 2024," they said.
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