Washington state approves capital gains tax • Hacker News Board

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#231

Post by zacharycohn » Sat, May 01, 2021, 1:25 AM UTC

jdonaldson wrote: post #181

rileywatkins wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe zacharycohn meant "regressive" as in "imposes a harsher burden on lower-income households than on households with higher incomes."[0] In this sense, Washington state does have a regressive tax system, in part thanks to 0% income tax and higher than average sales tax. [0] https://www.thebalance.com/regressive-tax-definition-history...

Upvoted you. After reading the comment again I see that it should be interpreted the way you describe.

Yes, progressive vs regressive taxes are a technical term.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#232

Post by tartoran » Sat, May 01, 2021, 1:32 AM UTC

CameronNemo wrote: post #213

tartoran wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be clear though, if your stock grows as little as that such that after paying capital gains on profits and adding inflation into the equation would leave you on the negative or even, then it's a pretty bad performing stock.

Why? What if I buy stocks with the intention of preservinpreserving wealth rather than growing my net worth? In such a case I am just trying to keep up with inflation with as little risk as possible, but the tax policies in place are forcing me to take on more risk. I can't just take a stake in a basket of goods and call it a day. I have to beat the risk free market substantially.

With that return your risk may be 0 but a guaranteed loss is what you choose. If you want to preserve wealth and want to beat inflation go with mutual or index funds, they go up and down with the market and the market beats inflation and appreciate quite a bit more. Or bonds.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#233

Post by loeg » Sat, May 01, 2021, 1:48 AM UTC

efficax wrote: post #228

loeg wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RSUs are ordinary income, not capital gains.

RSUs are taxed as ordinary income but when they vest they become (usually) class A shares. The sale of those shares will incur capital gains taxes, if there is a gain.

Sale at time of vest would have zero or likely negligible capital gain/loss, and then it's the same as any other income. Yes, if you hold the shares (much like buying any other stock with your income), and it appreciates, you would have capital gains.

Re levels.fyi, the compensation figures are just time of vest.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#234

Post by loeg » Sat, May 01, 2021, 1:54 AM UTC

bpodgursky wrote: post #187

grumpitron wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not turn into a wealth tax. A wealth tax is a tax on the entire value of the property. A capital gains tax is a tax on the gains. The only, extremely narrow situation in which they’re the same for a particular investment is when someone has a $0 cost basis on their investment. Runaway high inflation will have them trend closer to one another, but we don’t have that.

The "runaway high inflation" is exactly what I'm saying is a possibility. But it's not even necessary. Capital gains is a LOT compared to any proposed wealth tax, _and_ it affects most people (as opposed to the "billionaire tax"). 2x inflation (which is very plausible over a decade) translates into a 10% wealth tax, even at 20% cap gains. 4x inflation is 15%. Those are real numbers!

2x inflation over 10 years would require something like 7.2% annualized inflation. We're nowhere near that and haven't been for decades. Average over the last 20 years is around 3%, and it's been even lower over the past decade.

4x requires historically high inflation over a decade.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#235

Post by loeg » Sat, May 01, 2021, 1:58 AM UTC

tartoran wrote: post #131

leephillips wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tax on interest is at a different rate than capital gains tax.

Which one is higher?

Long-term capital gains are taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income and short-term capital gains (which are taxed at income rates).

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#236

Post by loeg » Sat, May 01, 2021, 2:01 AM UTC

jacob2484 wrote: post #223

whydoibother wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somehow, I imagine you aren't in Portland or haven't spent a lot of time downtown. You are regurgitating right talking points.

Even the mayor of Portland (who originally praised the protests) is asking the public to help stop the folks doing violence. How is this a right talking point? Are you ignoring reality?

> the mayor of Portland (who originally praised the protests)

This is counterfactual. Wheeler's been against the protests, and actively the subject of protest pretty much the whole time. He did a single media stunt participating in the protests and that's pretty much it. It was not well-received:

> On July 22, Wheeler addressed nightly protesters, but was booed by them for his actions as Portland Police Commissioner and the Portland Police's own response to the protests. The crowd chanted "Fuck Ted Wheeler" and "Quit Your Job" as he spoke.

His nickname is "Tear Gas Teddy," and it's not for being on the receiving end of the gas.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#237

Post by triceratops » Sat, May 01, 2021, 2:14 AM UTC

efficax wrote: post #228

loeg wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RSUs are ordinary income, not capital gains.

RSUs are taxed as ordinary income but when they vest they become (usually) class A shares. The sale of those shares will incur capital gains taxes, if there is a gain.

So sell just enough to stay under the $250k/year in cap gains. I'm still not seeing a problem here.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#238

Post by lawnchair_larry » Sat, May 01, 2021, 2:59 AM UTC

seattle_spring wrote: post #168

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 .

Part-time Portlander here! You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Please stop basing your worldview on Infowars talking points.

I am basing my opinion on my eyeballs walking around with my own feet. Please stop basing your worldview on denial and delusion.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#239

Post by fighterpilot » Sat, May 01, 2021, 2:59 AM UTC

evo wrote: post #152

syshum wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is important to recognize that taxes when used for anything other then revenue are highly unethical and should be opposed by the population

I feel like they're one of the only tools we have collectively as a society to counteract "tragedy of the commons"/negative externality situations. Is a tax that brings the financial costs of an action in line with its distributed societal costs that unethical?

Almost no taxes are based on negative externalities.

I'd love it if that changes, but productive activity is primarily what's taxed, unfortunately.

Re: Washington state approves capital gains tax

#240

Post by fighterpilot » Sat, May 01, 2021, 3:00 AM UTC

ghostwriter wrote: post #227

dontreact wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are alternatives to controlling negative externalities? My understanding is that they are by definition not fixable by the free market, and anything that is not the free market is government essentially.

privatise everything so that the owners are able to sue those who negatively impact their assets https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/if-you-want-to-save-the-e...

How would that work for air pollution?