Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Biden’s Billionaire Tax

 President Biden has proposed a new 20% “billionaire tax” for his 2023 budget. 

Here’s a dumb question: given that (a) it targets the uber rich (b) the current top personal income tax rate is 37% starting at over $540.000… why is the billionaire rate only 20%? Wouldn’t 37% be more just - to say the least?  Better yet, shouldn’t there be an even higher bracket - say, 50% ?

After all, 22% tax is levied on those with income over just $40.500. Not exactly members of the Billionaire’s Club..




5 comments:

  1. it is an implicit admission that they are currently paying zero.. =)

    still.. progress is progress?...

    but cool point... I never thought about it from that perspective...

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  2. My understanding is that this new tax would apply to the increase in value of assets in a given year. This means taxing unrealized capital gains which currently are not taxed until assets are sold and income realized.

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    1. This tax would ALSO apply to unrealized gains, and properly so, since the ultra rich rarely sell their holdings. Instead, they can borrow against them with great ease. For example, borrow at very very low rates using their stocks as collateral.

      There are truly innumerable ways to pay almost no tax if you are very rich. Ditto for most corporations, by the way…

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  3. btw Hell,

    any comments?

    https://theconversation.com/why-russia-has-put-the-rouble-on-a-gold-standard-but-its-unlikely-to-last-180632

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    1. I must admit that Russia’s decisions on ruble oil pricing and gold standard are smart, at least short term. The EU has only one choice if it wants to stop the war: stop buying Russian oil and gas, in any currency.

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