Washington state approves capital gains tax

Post by syshum » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 5:58 PM UTC

foobiekr wrote: post #85

leephillips wrote: post #46

I recently came across this comment by Philip Greenspun: “if you bought an asset for $10,000 in 2000, for example, the BLS says you spent $15,700 in today’s mini-dollars; if you sell it for $15,000 in 2021 you’ve actually suffered a loss, but will owe capital gains tax nonetheless” ( https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2021/04/29/economic-wisdom... ). I’m not a finance person, and this had never occurred to me. Does he…

He has a point. Imagine capital gains in a sustained high inflation period. Even if your investment exactly tracked inflation you’d end up with a very substantial nominal gain, and LTCG uses the nominal value.

Post by syshum » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 5:59 PM UTC

Consultant32452 wrote: post #56

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be great for the taxpayer if you could do that but the government would lose out on so much revenue. So I think any such proposal is dead on arrival.

I think it’s important to recognize that taxes are not primarily about revenue. The government can just create/inflate as much money into existence as it wants. All taxes are about behavior control and signaling. We’re either trying to discourage a behavior or signal we’re sticking it to some group or other who is getting taxed. Once you see the world through this lens all of these tax laws make much more sense.

Post by whydoibother » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 6:02 PM UTC

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #113

Relys wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived there a few years ago, there was an increasing amount of tech companies from Seattle opening up offices in Portland.

It has changed a lot with antifa having free reign for the last year. Lots of businesses boarded up and leaving. Even the Apple store was just set on fire again .

Post by conro1108 » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 6:06 PM UTC

0xEFF wrote: post #76

cynicalkane wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real estate has a powerful lobby and many property owners are well-connected themselves. A lot of people own property and don't see it as free money. They empathize with property owners. Though it's easier money if you're politically connected and/or already wealthy. Stocks are held by rich people and techbros, in the minds of the public. Whether something is valuable or not valuable depends on who you empathize with…

> Really you should just tax income at high rates and investment at near-0%. Does this address taxes lost from people being paid in stock units?

Post by procombo » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 6:07 PM UTC

bpodgursky wrote: post #107

leephillips wrote: post #46

I recently came across this comment by Philip Greenspun: “if you bought an asset for $10,000 in 2000, for example, the BLS says you spent $15,700 in today’s mini-dollars; if you sell it for $15,000 in 2021 you’ve actually suffered a loss, but will owe capital gains tax nonetheless” ( https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2021/04/29/economic-wisdom... ). I’m not a finance person, and this had never occurred to me. Does he…

And as reduced down, it essentially gives the Fed the ability to seize 20% (soon to be 40%) of all property in the name of the IRS, by printing arbitrary amounts of money (which the Fed board can do independently of congress) to blow up the nominal "capital gains" on any asset, triggering capital gains tax. It hasn't been an issue historically, in an era of hawkish fed leadership, but this year... we'll see.