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How much are the billionaires getting as a tax deduction
Executive summary
Major recent federal tax changes and proposals in 2025 shift large amounts of tax benefit toward the very wealthy: independent analyses say the Trump-era “megabill” and related Republican proposals will deliver roughly $1.0 trillion to the top 1% over the next decade and about $117 billion to the top 1% in 2026 alone [1] [2]. Other policy changes—permanent extensions or expansions of pass‑through and business-owner deductions—would concentrate benefits among millionaires and billionaires while adding hundreds of billions to the deficit [3] [4].
1. Who counts as “billionaires” and how do they currently avoid ordinary wage‑style withholding?
Wealthy individuals often receive returns as unrealized gains (stock or property appreciation) rather than wages, a pattern critics say lets them defer tax until they realize gains by selling assets; proposals like the “Billionaires Income Tax” would tax unrealized gains by “marking to market” annually for ultra‑rich taxpayers [5] [6]. Advocacy groups argue that, under current practice, working people pay via withholding while some very wealthy people largely avoid similar immediate taxation [6].
2. The megabill’s headline numbers: how much goes to the top 1% and to billionaires specifically?
Nonprofit tax researchers estimate the enacted 2025 tax-and-spending package will give the richest 1% roughly $1.02 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade, and about $117 billion of benefit to the top 1% in 2026 alone—figures intended to show the magnitude flowing to the wealthiest households under current law changes [1] [2]. These analyses treat the “top 1%” as a proxy for where most billionaire benefits land, but available sources do not provide a single precise per‑billionaire dollar figure in those reports [1] [2].
3. Which provisions deliver the biggest gains to billionaires and wealthy business owners?
Analysts single out extensions and expansions of the 2017 pass‑through/business‑owner deduction (raising the effective deduction and lowering top rates on pass‑through income), increases to estate tax thresholds, and widening the SALT deduction cap as major drivers of concentrated benefit. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) notes that expanding the pass‑through deduction would add about $115 billion to a larger tab and that millionaires capture over half of that break [3] [4]. ITEP’s work analogously isolates the concentrated benefit to the top 1% from the package [1] [2].
4. Competing narratives: who says billionaires benefit, and what do defenders reply?
Democrats and progressive groups portray the package as a targeted giveaway to billionaires and millionaires, arguing these changes tilt tax policy away from working families and toward wealthy owners [7] [4]. Republican defenders argue extending 2017 tax provisions benefits broad swaths of taxpayers and is necessary for economic growth; fact‑checking outlets report both sides “spin” the distributional effects and urge looking at official scoring for nuance [8]. The sources show disagreement over framing, but independent analyses cited by advocates quantify large benefits concentrated at the top [1] [4] [8].
5. How big is the budgetary cost, and what are the tradeoffs?
Fiscal analysts estimate extending key TCJA elements and related provisions would reduce revenue by trillions over a decade—CRFB estimates $3.9 trillion to $4.8 trillion for expiring individual and estate components alone—with additional revenue losses possible from SALT cap changes and other expansions [9]. CBPP and others highlight that billions in tax cuts to the wealthy come alongside cuts or foregone spending in health, climate, and social programs, framing the policy as a distributional choice with long‑term deficit implications [3] [10] [1].
6. Proposals to close “billionaire” loopholes and their political prospects
Advocates have proposed “mark‑to‑market” taxation on unrealized gains for the ultra‑wealthy (the “Billionaires Income Tax”), which would raise revenue by taxing appreciation annually rather than at sale—targeting people with extremely high incomes or multi‑year asset thresholds [5]. The political reality in 2025, given the enacted megabill and congressional majorities, has instead moved toward extending and enlarging tax breaks for wealthy owners; the sources indicate proposals to close the loopholes face strong partisan disagreement [5] [7] [8].
7. Bottom line and what’s not in the reporting
Available reporting and analyses consistently show large, quantified benefits flowing to the top 1% and to wealthy business owners from 2025 tax changes—roughly $1.02 trillion over a decade and about $117 billion in 2026 for the top 1% as headline figures [1] [2]. Sources do not provide a single, authoritative per‑billionaire deduction amount or an exact dollar figure per individual billionaire; they instead present aggregate distributional estimates and identify which provisions concentrate gains [1] [3] [4].