Millionaires protest outside Jeff Bezos’ home demanding he pay more in taxes

A group of millionaires rallied in Manhattan to call on Jeff Bezos, the multi-billionaire founder of Amazon, to pay his fair share of taxes.

The group Patriotic Millionaires called on the richest man in the world to do so on Tax Day on Monday and picketed outside his Manhattan apartment building, which Mr Bezos bought for $80 million dollars, according to the New York Post.

Attendees included Danielle Brookner, a Democrat candidate for the New York state Senate, who highlighted how much money he had made during the coronavirus pandemic, and how people in the city were stranded without adequate relief.

“Jeff Bezos made money on the pandemic, while my neighbours and us were suffering for food or healthcare,” she said.

She then accused Mr Bezos of attempting to “buy” the Seattle city council, as in 2019, the online retailer threatened to leave the city after progressive legislation was proposed.

“He doesn’t pay taxes. He needs to stop trying to buy us and take our tax money and pay us the tax money to people who are marginalised and suffering during the pandemic and before the pandemic.”

Members of Patriotic Millionaires include Abigail and Tim Disney, who are benefactors of The Walt Disney Company, and its chair Morris Pearl was a previous managing director of BlackRock, an investment firm.

They also back legislation proposed by progressive US senator Elizabeth Warren, who argues that people should pay 2 per cent on wealth over $50 million and 3 per cent over $1 billion.

The election of president Joe Biden came with a promise to ramp up taxation on the rich, as his predecessor Donald Trump passed significant tax cuts for some of American society’s wealthiest. Mr Biden’s plan intends to raise taxes for those earning more than $400,000, a move that hopes to raise about $1 trillion in revenue for the federal government. This money is believed to be used to fund investment into building projects and public programmes, such as childcare and housing.

According to their website, Patriotic Millionaires was established in 2010 to rally against the Bush-era tax cuts and they left their literature outside other figures homes, such as Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell.

The group’s social media features promotion videos where their members demand to be taxed more and quotes about the state of the American economy.

The Independent reached out to Patriotic Millionaires for comment.

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