Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday rolled out a plan to tax the wealth of the nation's ultra-rich, going further than his Democratic primary rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren with a proposal that could greatly erode the fortunes of billionaires with steep taxes.

Sanders' wealth tax is more aggressive than Warren's because of its scale.

It would affect more households, levy a higher marginal tax rate, and ultimately bring in more money for government coffers to help pay for some of Sanders' ambitious proposals, like "Medicare for All," as well as fund other social programs.

The plan is designed to hit the wealthiest 180,000 American households in the top 0.1% and cut the wealth of billionaires in half over 15 years.

In an interview with The New York Times unveiling his plan, Sanders said, "I don't think that billionaires should exist," though he recognized there would always be people who have more money than others.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday rolled out a plan to tax the wealth of the nation's ultra-rich, going further than his Democratic primary rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren with a proposal that could greatly erode the fortunes of billionaires with steep taxes.

Sanders' wealth tax is more aggressive than Warren's. It would affect more households, levy a higher marginal tax rate, and ultimately bring in more money for government coffers to help pay for some of his ambitious proposals, like "Medicare for All," as well as fund other social programs.

Read more: Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren's progressive alliance can only last so long. Here's how the break could happen.

Two economists consulted by that Sanders' campaign estimated that the wealth tax would raise $4.35 trillion over a decade, though conservative economists are likely to criticize those figures as overstated. The plan is designed to hit the wealthiest 180,000 American households in the top 0.1% and cut the wealth of billionaires in half over 15 years.

In an interview with The New York Times unveiling his plan, Sanders said, "I don't think that billionaires should exist," though he recognized that there would always be people who have more money than others.

"This proposal does not eliminate billionaires, but it eliminates a lot of the wealth that billionaires have," he said, "and I think that's exactly what we should be doing."

Sanders is also proposing a "national wealth registry" to enforce the tax.

Sanders' plan mirrors elements of Warren's 2% wealth tax, which has become a centerpiece of her ascendant 2020 presidential campaign. In her rallies, crowds often break out in chants of "Two cents!" referring to how many cents on the dollar those with fortunes over $50 million would have to pay. Those with wealth over $1 billion would be hit with a 3% tax on every dollar past that figure.

Warren's campaign estimated that her plan would generate $2.6 trillion over a decade, about $1.75 trillion less than Sanders' proposal estimate.

Here are how people's fortunes would fare under Sanders' wealth-tax plan:

$32 million to $50 million: 1% marginal tax rate

$50 million to $250 million: 2%

$250 million to $500 million: 3%

$500 million to $1 billion: 4%

$1 billion to $2.5 billion: 5%

$2.5 billion to $5 billion: 6%

$5 billion to $10 billion: 7%

$10 billion or more: 8%

These brackets would be cut in half for single filers.

Warren Gunnels, a senior Sanders campaign adviser, tweeted estimates of how much some of the nation's richest people would have to pay the government in taxes under the plan — for example, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is estimated at $110 billion, would owe $8.9 billion.

Whether Congress would pass Sanders' wealth-tax plan is another question. Democrats face an uphill battle to recapture the Senate, controlled by Republicans, in next year's elections. The Wall Street Journal also reported that implementing a wealth tax would require new government procedures to determine wealth and additional resources for the IRS to enforce compliance.