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Romney breaks with GOP orthodoxy, says 'rich people like me' should pay more taxes to fix debt
By Rachel del Guidice
Published December 19, 2025
Former Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, says wealthy Americans should pay higher taxes in a hot-off-the-press New York Times essay.
"Typically, Democrats insist on higher taxes, and Republicans insist on lower spending. But given the magnitude of our national debt as well as the proximity of the cliff, both are necessary," Romney wrote in the essay, published Friday.
"DOGE took a slash-and-burn approach to budget cutting and failed spectacularly. Europe demonstrates that exorbitant taxes without spending restraint crushes economic vitality and thus speeds how fast the cliff arrives."
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Former Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, says wealthy Americans should pay higher taxes in a New York Times essay. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Romney said when it comes to cutting spending, "only entitlement reform would make a meaningful difference" and argued that taxing the rich is the other option with the country headed toward a fiscal "cliff."
"And on the tax front, it’s time for rich people like me to pay more," Romney wrote. "Our roughly 17 percent average tariff rate helps the revenue math. Doubling it — which seemed possible shortly after ‘Liberation Day’ — would further burden lower- and middle-income families, and would have severe market consequences."
Romey said he used to oppose increasing the income level where FICA employment taxes, mandatory federal payroll taxes that fund the Social Security and Medicare programs, are administered, with the cap being at $176,100 for 2025. He said he no longer does.
"The largest source of additional tax revenues is also probably the most compelling for fairness and social stability," Romney wrote. "Some call it closing tax code loopholes, but the term ‘loopholes’ grossly understates their scale. ‘Caverns’ or ‘caves’ would be more fitting."
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Romney said that when it comes to cutting spending, "only entitlement reform would make a meaningful difference." (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)
Romney used Elon Musk and his wealth to illustrate his argument.
"Consider, for example, the cavern of the capital gains tax treatment at death for those with enormous estates," Romney wrote. "Let’s look at a hypothetical scenario using Elon Musk as a proxy. If he had originally purchased his Tesla stock with, say, $1 billion and held it until his death, and if it were then worth $500 billion, he would never pay the 24 percent federal capital gains tax on the $499 billion profit. Why? Because under the tax code, capital gains are not taxed at death.
"The tax code provision known as step-up in basis means that when Mr. Musk’s heirs get his stock, they are treated as if they purchased it for $500 billion. So no one pays taxes on the $499 billion capital gain. Ever."
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While a rapidly growing economy would help, the realistic solution to fixing the country’s financial woes is to tax the rich, Romney said. (Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)
While a rapidly growing economy would help, the realistic solution to fixing the country’s financial woes, Romney said, is to tax the rich.
"I believe in free enterprise, and I believe all Americans should be able to strive for financial success," Romney wrote. "But we have reached a point where any mix of solutions to our nation’s economic problems is going to involve the wealthiest Americans contributing more."
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