Bay Area Business Leaders Call for Higher Taxes

A coalition of wealthy Bay Area professionals gathered in front of San Francisco City Hall this afternoon calling on the government to raise their taxes.

The group, called Tax-Us, gathered for a Tax Day rally to champion the "Buffett rule," which calls for a minimum of 30 percent tax on incomes greater than $1 million.

Tax-Us founder John K. Stewart was among the Bay Area professionals who held signs and discussed the national budget this afternoon.

Among those at the rally was Dan Leibsohn, the executive director of Community Development Finance and owner of Capital Flows consulting.

Leibsohn, a resident of Oakland and Berkeley, said he and individuals in the coalition wanted to see the end of Bush-era tax cuts.

"Romney wants a huge tax cut for the upper 5 to 10 percent," Leibsohn said. "We are facing a deficit issue that needs to be addressed. I'd love to see that addressed."

Meanwhile, as San Francisco residents rushed to mail their tax returns at the U.S. Post Office at Fox Plaza on Market Street, members of an advocacy group organized a gathering outside the post office.

Members of the Health and Human Services Network of California were demanding more taxes for corporations and the wealthy to pay for community services.

Gladys Soto, a 38-year-old mother and advocate, said that in order to preserve social services, everybody, including corporations and wealthy individuals, needs to pay their taxes to help the community thrive.

"We need to charge the rich. We need them to pay their fair share," Soto said.

Advocates expressed their appreciation for taxpayers this afternoon and asked them to sign a petition to put Gov. Jerry Brown's $9 billion revenue initiative on the November ballot.