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How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

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Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#91

Post by seibelj »

diob wrote: post #77
epistasis wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a loophole as much as a completely designed tax break. That's a different deal than some body squeaking around tax law; this was all about trying to change parts of the nature of capitalism's tendency to rerun money to capital more than to labor. If you think it's misguided, I do too. Though I think it's good to invest in under invested areas, I also think we need to counteract the effects of the Henry Geo…

Capitalism these days feels akin to joining a game of monopoly where everything has already been purchased. But feel free to have a jolly time going around the board and paying rent :)

At least in capitalism you can start a new business. The folly of the Monopoly board game is the limited spaces which makes things a zero-sum game. The world is only zero-sum when the government doesn’t let you build new stuff through artificial constraints. In a free market always get new stuff.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#92

Post by kmonsen »

dmje wrote: post #68

Unfashionable thought: pay your damn taxes. Loopholes are one thing and IMO should be closed but morality is another. The whole idea that you can make a billion dollar business without being hugely dependent on the infrastructure, education, history, societal background etc that has largely been paid for by...taxes...is utter fallacy. Maybe if massively profitable businesses spent a bit more time doing the right thin…

This is not finding some mysterious loophole though, but using a government designed program.

I think it is sad they exist, but clearly they are there to be used.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#93

Post by rdl »

hyuuu wrote: post #66
rdl wrote: post #42

Assuming this is about being a US citizen and doing this: Option B: Move to Puerto Rico, run your company from here, do Act 60, zero capital gains tax. It's challenging to build a successful billion-dollar-exit company in PR, though.

why is it challenging? especially in a more remote friendly world we live in

Infrastructure sucks relatively to almost everywhere else in the US (better than other territories, probably better than parts of Alaska). Legal system is really bad (bad hybrid of old Spanish law, 1950s American law, and nearly a century of corruption). High costs (inherent to being on an island) combined with regulatory/etc. burden raising costs.

It makes sense for completely vertically integrated businesses which are highly profitable (some software, crypto, pharma production), but it's not a place you'd put most businesses. compared to Florida/Texas (low tax low cost), a lot of other parts of the US (low cost moderate tax), or CA/NY/etc. (high talent pool, high tax).

It can be done, it's just harder, and it's probably not worth saving 20% long-term capital gains (if successful) this way vs. a higher change of a successful outcome at all otherwise. But for some specific kinds of businesses it works great.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#94

Post by imgabe »

Retric wrote: post #74
imgabe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government is not a charity. If they have deemed something to be non-taxable, it's because the government (and by extension, the people it represents) want to incentivize that particular activity, in this case investing in economically depressed areas. If at some point we no longer want to incentivize that behavior, the government can simply remove the tax break. Moralizing about how people shouldn't engage in th…

The US government is the worlds largest charity, it also does a lot of other things. However it accepts donations and supports the poor, arts and sciences etc. There are even plenty of things people might want to donate too that only governments do, the Red Cross etc are hardly building space telescopes or US highways.

Taxes are not donations. You don’t go to jail if you refuse to give a donation.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#95

Post by tomcam »

Layke1123 wrote: post #2

Is this really what people strive for in the USA. To avoid contributing anything back to the country that helped them achieve everything they've ever wanted?

Apparently it’s the American dream. Over half of US workers pay zero federal tax. https://thehill.com/policy/finance/599753-study-57-percent-o...

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#96

Post by systemvoltage »

dmje wrote: post #68

Unfashionable thought: pay your damn taxes. Loopholes are one thing and IMO should be closed but morality is another. The whole idea that you can make a billion dollar business without being hugely dependent on the infrastructure, education, history, societal background etc that has largely been paid for by...taxes...is utter fallacy. Maybe if massively profitable businesses spent a bit more time doing the right thin…

Can we also simultaneously hold the government accountable for efficient spending of the money?

I want 2x better government services for the same amount of taxes. The fact that no one questions government efficiency, but everyone is eager to pay taxes is delusional.

If I lived in Zurich or Tokyo, yes, I am happy to pay taxes.

I really don't want to give a dime to Oakland local government and California in general; I will do everything in my power and exercise all legal avenues to pay as little tax as I can.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#97

Post by tomcam »

Fezzik wrote: post #22
Layke1123 wrote: post #2

Is this really what people strive for in the USA. To avoid contributing anything back to the country that helped them achieve everything they've ever wanted?

I think, like most things, it’s a bell curve - the bulk of the people want to contribute a reasonable amount while some want contribute none and some extra. The glaring issue in the United States is how much capital is gained — though I prefer ‘allocated to’, as the people do the work — by a minuscule portion of the population and the paltry taxes they then pay.

> the bulk of the people want to contribute a reasonable amount

Not sure that’s correct. https://thehill.com/policy/finance/599753-study-57-percent-o...

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#98

Post by ramraj07 »

systemvoltage wrote: post #96
dmje wrote: post #68

Unfashionable thought: pay your damn taxes. Loopholes are one thing and IMO should be closed but morality is another. The whole idea that you can make a billion dollar business without being hugely dependent on the infrastructure, education, history, societal background etc that has largely been paid for by...taxes...is utter fallacy. Maybe if massively profitable businesses spent a bit more time doing the right thin…

Can we also simultaneously hold the government accountable for efficient spending of the money? I want 2x better government services for the same amount of taxes. The fact that no one questions government efficiency, but everyone is eager to pay taxes is delusional. If I lived in Zurich or Tokyo, yes, I am happy to pay taxes. I really don't want to give a dime to Oakland local government and California in general; I…

Pay your tax first (a fair share at that) and then harp about unfair spending.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#99

Post by ramraj07 »

kmonsen wrote: post #86
ggm wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is HN. we welcome diversity of views. this view you espouse, is not actually a minority view, but still, its a divisive topic. I'm a high tax kinda guy. If we all had Norway taxes, we'd have Norway sovereign fund and EV and lifestyle (but maybe without SAD, because we're not all that far north)

Norwegian taxes are not too far off from CA or NY taxes to be honest. The marginal rate tops out at under 50%. It’s worse for capital gains and they have a wealth taxes so a lot worse for some.

This only applies to the upper middle class not the insanely rich though. Anyone who hires a tax attorney is not paying high taxes in this country.

Re: How to have a billion dollar exit with zero capital gains tax

#100

Post by systemvoltage »

ramraj07 wrote: post #98
systemvoltage wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we also simultaneously hold the government accountable for efficient spending of the money? I want 2x better government services for the same amount of taxes. The fact that no one questions government efficiency, but everyone is eager to pay taxes is delusional. If I lived in Zurich or Tokyo, yes, I am happy to pay taxes. I really don't want to give a dime to Oakland local government and California in general; I…

Pay your tax first (a fair share at that) and then harp about unfair spending.

Have been. For years. I see dwindling QoL, infrastructure on stilts, power outages, anti-small-business bureacracy, woke government initiatives and dysfunctional law enforcement where I live.

I give my local and state government a solid 2/10 score.

I am a socialist where governments are efficient, liberatarian where governments are dysfunctional.

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