How Democrats Can Tax Billionaires the Right Way: Alexis Leondis

In Democrats’ latest effort to find a way to extract more revenue from America’s wealthiest, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has proposed taxing them annually on assets they haven’t sold. It’s a complex plan bound to hit legal roadblocks and create logistical headaches.

Fortunately, there’s a sounder idea for targeting the more than $5 trillion America’s billionaires have earned yet have paid relatively little in taxes on. It’s based on a plan that was part of President Joe Biden’s revenue proposals earlier this year: Instead of taxing the wealthiest each year, as Wyden would do, Biden’s original plan would tax them upon their death.

First, it’s ...