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Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

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Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#51

Post by systemvoltage »

mrgordon wrote: post #40
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was just asking my wife the other day, "I don't mind high gas taxes per se, but for having some of the highest fuel taxes in the country, why is this highly-trafficked road such a piece of shit? They haven't paved it since we moved here." Suburbs in the US have too much roads per capita (thanks to SFH obsession), you'll end up with this issue almost no matter how much taxes you raise.

Yes 100%. I’m not familiar with Washington state specifically but if you Google “induced demand” you’ll see why building more lanes and repaving them doesn’t really solve the problem.

I’ve heard of this and I’m skeptical of this narrative. And then being applied in pretty much any infrastructure. Unchecked.

It’s a great way to build nothing and leave the next generation without good infrastructure.

American cities are infested with lack of spirit that led to huge infrastructure projects in post-world war between 1945-1980.

If you talk about building anything new in SF Bay Area, you’ll be met with contempt.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#52

Post by millzlane »

samspenc wrote: post #34
millzlane wrote: post #8

Sound like a move to avoid losses. TL;DR: Nadella sold the shares “for personal financial planning and diversification reasons,” the Redmond-based company said in a statement Monday afternoon. “He is committed to the continued success of the company and his holdings significantly exceed the holding requirements set by the Microsoft Board of Directors.”

But then, in the next two paragraphs: > It comes in advance of Washington state implementing a controversial new capital gains tax. Passed by lawmakers in April, it primarily targets stock and business ownership sales with a 7% tax on long-term capital gains of more than $250,000. > The first such tax in state history, it’s set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Microsoft’s statement on Nadella’s stock sale did not addr…

He says why he did it. It's not a secret. We can speculate why he did it but with no proof how do we know? If he was trying to avoid the tax altogether why not sell all of it?

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#53

Post by systemvoltage »

devwastaken wrote: post #33
systemvoltage wrote: post #2

I predict that people will leave Washington State in droves. Not because of the tax increase, but because the amount of taxes you pay goes into never ending government pit of inefficiency and incompetency. I’m down with paying more taxes but in return I want no homelessness, no chadzone, less crime, better roads, straight forward education (math is racist apparently), spotless streets, safety, eradication of poverty,…

Then campaign for election. The democratic experiment failed because people believe the government is a separate entity from them. Once you get involved you will see how complicated everything actually is. It turns out that people vote and do things purely from belief, regardless of if it's wrong. Therefore good policy gets labeled "leftist" or "conservative", and the private interests that profit from the chaos know…

Think about the consequences of what you said. We can never know unless we get involved. It is too complex. So the door for criticism is shut and only the people inside the government can possibly know the intricacies and therefore have the right to criticize. This is also a classic defeatist perspective - we can never fix this, it is too complicated.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#54

Post by boublepop »

JoeyBananas wrote: post #46
ttymck wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure your argument is deeper, but what you have written could be said about any tax, no? Is there something unique about capital gains tax in particular?

> Is there something unique about capital gains tax in particular? The reason why we are seeing pushes to adopt capital gains tax right now is because Bernie Sanders, AOC, et. al. want to "Tax the Billionaires." This is obviously a popular slogan because people think "who the hell needs 1 billion dollars?" But it's not like billionaires literally have 1 billion dollars just sitting in their bank accounts not doing an…

It’s not a tax on the business. If Elon musk is forced to sell a percentage of his shares in Tesla that’s not going to change their bottom line, it just means someone else, other than him is buying that ownership.

It’s a tax on the billionaires just like it’s intended, and they are forced to either pay themselves a salary that will also be taxed, just like poor people, in order to pay the capital gains tax. They can’t just borrow money against their gains and pretend that it’s fair that they don’t pay any taxes “because Elon Musk has no income”.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#55

Post by boublepop »

pirate787 wrote: post #27
ttymck wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure your argument is deeper, but what you have written could be said about any tax, no? Is there something unique about capital gains tax in particular?

Capital gains taxes are double taxation...the company already pays income taxes on its profit.

Double taxation is when one entity is taxed double, not when multiple independent entities are taxed based on value being transferred. I also pay tax on my income before I pay it to a company for their services, but they still need to pay tax on that money.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#56

Post by kyleblarson »

systemvoltage wrote: post #2

I predict that people will leave Washington State in droves. Not because of the tax increase, but because the amount of taxes you pay goes into never ending government pit of inefficiency and incompetency. I’m down with paying more taxes but in return I want no homelessness, no chadzone, less crime, better roads, straight forward education (math is racist apparently), spotless streets, safety, eradication of poverty,…

Seattle is not Washington State. I invite you to visit the Methow Valley. I will buy you a beer.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#57

Post by systemvoltage »

kyleblarson wrote: post #56
systemvoltage wrote: post #2

I predict that people will leave Washington State in droves. Not because of the tax increase, but because the amount of taxes you pay goes into never ending government pit of inefficiency and incompetency. I’m down with paying more taxes but in return I want no homelessness, no chadzone, less crime, better roads, straight forward education (math is racist apparently), spotless streets, safety, eradication of poverty,…

Seattle is not Washington State. I invite you to visit the Methow Valley. I will buy you a beer.

I just googled Methow Valley. Breathtaking. I'll take your offer.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#58

Post by janoin93 »

systemvoltage wrote: post #2

I predict that people will leave Washington State in droves. Not because of the tax increase, but because the amount of taxes you pay goes into never ending government pit of inefficiency and incompetency. I’m down with paying more taxes but in return I want no homelessness, no chadzone, less crime, better roads, straight forward education (math is racist apparently), spotless streets, safety, eradication of poverty,…

[flagged]

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#59

Post by mrgordon »

systemvoltage wrote: post #43
mrgordon wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re saying NYC has the worst subway? If so, you’re seriously taking it for granted. It’s the only subway I’m aware of with two sets of tracks so it can run 24 hours even while maintenance is performed usually. It’s better than basically any other subway in America as a start and certainly better than many others as well. That said, the United States is clearly terrible at public transport overall.

You clearly have not been overseas. NY subways are possibly the filthiest, Ill-running subway system in the world. Frequent delays, crime, the stench, the cost; every single aspect of it is no match for say Tokyo subway or Prague metro. Improvement starts with self-introspection and realization. American exceptionalism is all I can see.

Well let’s see I spent the last five months in Lisbon, Barcelona, Paris, London, and Zagreb. Now I’m in Bangkok. So your assumption that I’ve never been overseas is drastically incorrect. In fact, I’d wager I’ve been to more countries than you have and I always use the subway when available.

If you read my comment, I mentioned that while the US is poor at public transit in general, the NYC subway stands out for several reasons including being 24 hours, being able to perform track maintenance without shutting down due to having two tracks (something I believe no other system has), and it also has 472 stations! Prague has 61 stations and even Tokyo only has 280.

So you ignored the fact that I said America isn’t good at public transit, ignored the reasons I cited that make the NYC system better in some ways than the systems you’re talking about, and instead responded with some misplaced condescension about “American exceptionalism”

Stop making assumptions about strangers on the Internet instead of reading what they wrote.

Re: Microsoft CEO sells half his stock, weeks before WA state implements gains tax

#60

Post by mrgordon »

systemvoltage wrote: post #51
mrgordon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes 100%. I’m not familiar with Washington state specifically but if you Google “induced demand” you’ll see why building more lanes and repaving them doesn’t really solve the problem.

I’ve heard of this and I’m skeptical of this narrative. And then being applied in pretty much any infrastructure. Unchecked. It’s a great way to build nothing and leave the next generation without good infrastructure. American cities are infested with lack of spirit that led to huge infrastructure projects in post-world war between 1945-1980. If you talk about building anything new in SF Bay Area, you’ll be met with…

The Bay Area is a dense region with earthquakes and it’s share of NIMBYs which complicates planning but they’re still opening four new stations next year as part of the Central Subway.

I’d certainly like to see a lot more infrastructure projects but building more lanes on highways is not actually the solution according to the vast majority of urban planners. Try visiting cities that went all in on highways. For example, here in Bangkok they’ve been investing a ton into the metro systems (MRT and BTS) because even after covering the city in highways the traffic doesn’t move in many areas.

I see you deleted your other comment where you said I’d clearly never left the United States. It’s a bizarre thing to assume about someone you’ve never met who has spent six months in European and Asian cities this year. Next time read the content of what is written instead of inventing things.

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