Encouraging Congress to pursue reforms to ensure that all United States citizens contribute to funding the operations of the Federal Government in proportion to the economic gains they realize.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1468 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1468

Encouraging Congress to pursue reforms to ensure that all United States 
citizens contribute to funding the operations of the Federal Government 
           in proportion to the economic gains they realize.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2026

 Mr. Smith of Washington submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Encouraging Congress to pursue reforms to ensure that all United States 
citizens contribute to funding the operations of the Federal Government 
           in proportion to the economic gains they realize.

Whereas the Federal Government has accumulated $39,400,000,000,000 in national 
        debt, a figure that has grown exponentially even as the current tax 
        system remains unable to generate revenue commensurate with the size of 
        the modern economy, demonstrating that the existing structure of Federal 
        taxation is failing to meet the basic fiscal needs of the Nation;
Whereas Federal Reserve data shows the wealthiest 1 percent of the population 
        now hold approximately $55,000,000,000,000 in net worth, while the 
        majority of United States citizens report having little to no financial 
        cushion against an unexpected expense, illustrating a widening gap 
        between the capital-derived wealth largely exempted from the ordinary 
        income tax base and the wage income that funds the great majority of 
        Federal revenue;
Whereas recent Federal financial disclosures illustrate how individuals whose 
        wealth derives primarily from capital appreciation, business equity, and 
        investment holdings can realize billions of dollars in gains that remain 
        substantially outside the ordinary income tax structure applicable to 
        wage earners, whose income is verified and taxed at the source;
Whereas the disparity in disclosure and verification standards between wage 
        income and capital-derived wealth means the public often cannot assess 
        the true scale of gains accumulated by the wealthiest United States 
        citizens, undermining the transparency the tax system depends on to 
        maintain public confidence in its fairness;
Whereas individual income taxes account for approximately 49 percent of Federal 
        revenue, and payroll taxes account for approximately 35 percent, meaning 
        the operation of the Federal Government depends overwhelmingly on the 
        taxation of wages rather than the taxation of capital gains, 
        inheritance, or business equity appreciation;
Whereas mechanisms such as the deferral of unrealized gains, the use of 
        appreciated assets as loan collateral to fund consumption without 
        triggering a taxable event, and the elimination of embedded capital 
        gains at the time of inheritance allow substantial and growing 
        concentrations of wealth to remain permanently outside the ordinary 
        income tax base;
Whereas emerging asset classes, including digital assets and cryptocurrency 
        holdings, have expanded the range of vehicles through which wealth can 
        accumulate rapidly and substantially outside conventional income 
        reporting and disclosure frameworks, compounding the existing gap 
        between how wage income and capital income are taxed;
Whereas charitable-giving vehicles, including private foundations and donor-
        advised funds, provide immediate and substantial tax relief across 
        multiple tax categories without corresponding requirements that the 
        underlying funds be distributed for public benefit within any defined 
        timeframe;
Whereas the scale of individual charitable commitments now reported in the 
        billions of dollars demonstrates both the concentration of wealth 
        available for such gifts and the absence of any public mechanism to 
        verify that funds moving through these tax-advantaged vehicles serve the 
        broad public interest rather than the strategic or reputational 
        interests of the donor;
Whereas the Federal estate tax, once a meaningful check on the concentration of 
        dynastic wealth, has been substantially narrowed over the past 3 decades 
        through successive legislative changes, reducing its practical 
        application to a small fraction of the wealthiest estates and 
        diminishing its function as an equalizing mechanism;
Whereas the current structure of the tax code creates materially different 
        outcomes for United States citizens based on the source of their income 
        rather than its amount, such that 2 individuals with comparable economic 
        gains can face substantially different tax obligations depending on 
        whether those gains were earned through wages or realized through 
        capital appreciation; and
Whereas a tax system in which the verification, reporting, and enforcement 
        mechanisms differ fundamentally based on income source undermines the 
        principle that all United States citizens should contribute to funding 
        Federal Government functions in proportion to their economic gains: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) finds that the Federal tax code should apply consistent 
        treatment to income regardless of its source or form;
            (2) encourages Congress to pursue reforms to ensure that 
        all United States citizens contribute to funding the operations 
        of the Federal Government in proportion to the economic gains 
        they realize; and
            (3) encourages the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
        of Representatives to hold hearings examining the disparate tax 
        treatment of wage income and capital-derived wealth under 
        current law.
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