The event will be webcast live on this page.

Should wealth be taxed? Several presidential candidates think so. Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio have proposed wealth taxes, and Bernie Sanders has suggested it could be one way to pay for Medicare for All. A wealth tax has the potential to reduce inequality, fund assistance to low-income families, and reduce the deficit. But can it work in the United States?

Ian Simmons, coauthor and co-organizer of An Open Letter to the 2020 Presidential Candidates: It’s Time to Tax Us More, and a panel of tax experts will consider these and other questions:

• Should the US adopt a wealth tax?
• How should a wealth tax be designed?
• What can the US learn from other countries that have adopted a wealth tax?
• What challenges would the IRS face administering a wealth tax?
• How much revenue could a wealth tax raise?

The event will also cover a new analysis of wealth taxes conducted by researchers at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

Keynote Speaker

• Ian Simmons, Cofounder and Principal, Blue Haven Initiative @isimmons

Featured Speakers 

• Janet Holtzblatt, Senior Fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center @TaxPolicyCenter
• Beth Kaufman, Member, Caplin and Drysdale @caplindrysdale
• Greg Leiserson, Director of Tax Policy and Chief Economist, Washington Center for Equitable Growth @gregleiserson
• Mark Mazur, Robert C. Pozen Director, Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center @TaxPolicyCenter
• Victoria Perry, Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund @IMFNews
• Alan Viard, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute @AEI
• Sony Kassam, Reporter, Bloomberg Tax (moderator) @snykssm

Event Materials

• Wealth taxation: An overview of the issues (Alan Viard)

A light breakfast will be served starting at 8:30 a.m.

Email any inquiries regarding this event to events@urban.org.