Live data from Hacker News

Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

bbc.com

11–20 of 98 posts

Re: Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

#11
This seems to ignore the fundamental reason that billionaires don't pay taxes. It's not that governments don't try to tax billionaires. It's that they're able to avoid claiming income when they make money. But following this reasoning, they would likely develop ways to avoid claiming wealth as well. Consider, for example, Warren Buffet's own example of his California properties which have a taxable value well below their realistic market value. Similar sleight of hand would likely be employed (with a few strategically positioned lobbyists having lunch with legislative committees) in order to allow billionaires to minimize their taxable wealth.

The more practical approach, as I understand it, is a tax on securitization of assets: whenever someone takes out a loan against an asset for expenses (which is common among the wealthy to avoid realizing gains), a tax is assessed on the loan value. This makes the tax harder to avoid because it is assessed closer to the actual use of money, which is a documented event. While this may affect the second mortgage and "auto loan" industry, weakening predatory finance doesn't seem like that much of a bad thing.

Re: Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

#12
post #3

Government economists say the government needs more tax money. Very convincing. Instead of making people dependent on social welfare systems, and funneling money to useless bureaucracies, how about we force the billionaires to put that money to use in the markets? Not just stocks and bonds. Most certainly not NGOs/non-profits (they siphon enough public money). Venture capital, urban renewal projects, interests that p…

Things like venture capital, research, and urban renewal projects could produce new technologies and companies (which might help the economy). However, they wouldn't necessarily do much to address inequality. It's the difference between making a bigger pie and distributing the pie more evenly. As I see it, the best strategy is to try to balance both approaches.

[deleted]

Re: Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

#13
post #4

it is easy to make the headlines by just telling people what they want to hear. hard truths, not so much.

People can be envious of the richest percentile when they are simply richer.

They start to look at them with hate only when according to usual metrics, a few become ever more rich while most actually see their wealth level decrease whatever the legal path they take.

This is not good for anyone, because history show that the next expectable step is blood bath, be it through mass repression or cutting heads of the perceived most privileged, a mixture of both being the most likely option.

Re: Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

#17

Unrealized capital gains are not income. This article wants a wealth tax because they think this is "income" that is going untaxed.

Elon bought twitter with unrealized capital gains.

Surely they became "realized" in the process.

Re: Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

#19
post #4

it is easy to make the headlines by just telling people what they want to hear. hard truths, not so much.

> hard truths, not so much.

Thank you for knowing that everyone on the planet has identical ideas in mind of which hard truths you're referring to, and so it was unnecessary for you to specify them or provide evidence as to why they are hard truths.

Re: Billionaires should face a minimum tax rate, report says

#20

Unrealized capital gains are not income. This article wants a wealth tax because they think this is "income" that is going untaxed.

My wealth was $x one year. And $x + $y the following year.

If I work my ass off doing manual labor, $y gets taxed more than if I merely own equity that got me the same amount.

And people wonder why the middle class is dying.

Post reply on HN