Curtailing Executive Overcompensation (CEO) Act

This legislative proposal introduces a new excise tax on certain large employers exhibiting significant pay disparities between their highest-compensated employee and their median worker. The tax aims to address what it defines as excessive executive pay relative to the broader workforce by amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. An applicable employer must have at least $100 million in gross receipts and $10 million in total wages for each of the three preceding years. The tax is triggered if the employer's pay disparity ratio —the ratio of the highest-paid employee's average qualified wages over five years to the median wages of all employees earning over $5,000—exceeds 50:1. The tax amount is calculated as 1% of a formula involving this disparity or 1% of the employer's gross receipts, whichever is less. The bill includes provisions for inflation adjustments to financial thresholds and mandates that the Secretary of the Treasury issue regulations to prevent avoidance of the tax. This excise tax is explicitly made non-deductible from income taxes and will apply to taxable years beginning after the Act's enactment.