Mark Cuban's Budget Deficit Playbook: 44% Top Tax Rate, $20 Minimum Wage, and Social Security Tax on Earnings Up to $5M

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has proposed raising the top federal income tax rate to 44%, introducing a $20 minimum wage at large companies, and extending Social Security taxes to earnings of up to $5 million as part of an ambitious plan to reduce America's budget deficit and rein in government spending.

Note that he proposed the wage hike for companies exceeding an unspecified sales or EBITDA threshold, while urging for increasing the stock buyback tax to 4% for public companies that do not pay employees at least $25 an hour.

In a 7th November X post, the Cost Plus Drugs co-founder outlined a series of tax increases, corporate penalties, and federal spending cuts, arguing that the US needs practical economic policies rather than partisan slogans to tackle its mounting fiscal challenges.

'Actually, it means that we have run out of time believing Ideology is a Strategy,' Cuban wrote. 'We have to take steps that are not based on slogans.' His proposals could have implications for high-income earners, major employers, public companies, and investors.

Cuban Wants Wealthier Americans to Pay More

Cuban wants the highest federal income tax bracket raised from 37% to 44% on earned income. The increase would target people at the top of the income ladder rather than impose a universal tax increase on workers.

He also called for higher corporate income tax rates and an alternative minimum tax, but did not specify the proposed corporate rate or explain how the additional tax would work alongside existing rules.

For investors and business owners, the distinction matters: higher corporate taxes could affect after-tax earnings, investment decisions, and company valuations, depending on how the changes were designed.

One of Cuban's most consequential proposals would extend Social Security payroll taxation to annual earnings between $1 million and $5 million. Currently, the tax stops at the first $192,300 of earnings in 2027.

Extending the taxable threshold could increase contributions from very high earners and provide additional revenue for the programme.

Cuban also wants every federal agency to reduce spending by 1% annually for five consecutive years, creating a cumulative five-year push to limit government expenditure.

Healthcare Reform Also Makes the List

Cuban urged lawmakers to pass the Break Up Big Medicine Act, which seeks to restrict common ownership between certain healthcare providers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, and medical wholesalers.

The proposal reflects his longstanding criticism of healthcare industry consolidation and opaque pricing practices. He had recently criticised CVS Health's planned breakup, arguing that the healthcare giant's decision to split into two publicly traded companies would do little to make medicines or healthcare more affordable for ordinary Americans.

Cuban had also warned lawmakers and consumers not to mistake the corporate restructuring for meaningful healthcare reform, saying the move was largely beneficial to shareholders rather than patients.

Concluding his more recent X post, Cuban argued that the midterm elections should be viewed as a rejection of how Washington operates rather than a straightforward victory for either political party. 'We need to be honest. Transparent. And stop pushing ideology,' he noted.

Cuban's plan offers a glimpse of the tax and regulatory changes that could become part of America's fiscal debate, but he did not provide revenue estimates, an implementation timetable, or a detailed legislative framework, leaving the actual deficit-reduction impact uncertain.