I have a house. I say have because while I have the title to the house, the bank has a lien that basically means they own it. Like a stock, my house increases in value. The government in my state then taxes me on the value of the house. Taxing me on unrealized gains in the house (I have not sold it) is like taxing a rich person on the unrealized gains of stock (that they have not sold).
It is possible to come up with ways to tax stock. It will be imperfect like all tax systems are. It will be better than what we have now.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The rich aren’t fleeing Massachusetts despite a wealth tax.
Turns out there are disadvantages to living in tax havens over living in Boston and Cape Cod.
wbur.org/…/mass-fair-share-millionaires-tax-anniv…
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 6 months ago
But you can save so much tax money by moving to the middle of a desert in India!
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Even a nicer place like the Cayman Islands.
Good luck shopping at a high-end fashion boutique or going to the opera there.
Clent@lemmy.world 6 months ago
But John Galt did it…in the libertarians’ imagination.
We would be so screwed if all the billionaires went and lived in some secret mountain location. They should totally go do that.
Tap for spoiler
~It will make tracking them down so much easier~
Cypher@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Musk isn’t earning $220 billion a year, so clearly as I asked, this appears to be based on stock valuation.
People spruiking and sharing absolute nonsense with zero idea of what is income, what is capital and how a “wealth tax” would actually work.
This is why your opponents laugh at you.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Who are my opponents?
Also, the question was:
The answer is, they generally don’t leave.
Cypher@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The question was
I know because I asked it and not a single one of you has had a coherent response.
Oh like the tax in Massachusetts?
The tax that would only see Musk pay $575 million and not the ass-pulled $6.6 billion?
Apparently the ultra wealthy but you seem a bit confused.
eskimofry@lemm.ee 6 months ago
So are you arguing that stock valuations mean nothing?
billionaires make it difficult to judge their worth… because as pointed out they are trying to not pay taxes.
Cypher@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I’m arguing that by FlyingSquid’s own assertion that the Mass. wealth tax could be copied that the numbers make zero sense.
What’s not to get here? Read what he claimed and read the link he provided.
FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today 6 months ago
Stock evaluations have value, and they’re already taxed upon realization of gains. The meme says we should take away Billions of Elon Musk’s stock shares every year, but idk that sounds like a pretty vague and unsustainable plan. Most companies would probably just go private and do a series of offerings to lower evaluations. We need to at least clearly define a bracket of who it effects, is it any stock shares amounting above 1 Billion? 1 Million? Also, why is the rate in the meme a 2.98%?
It’s just not a plan. It’s the opposite of a plan, it’s a desired end result with no details at all.
RustyEarthfire@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That’s not a wealth tax, that is an income tax (+4% for the 1M+ tax bracket).
Countries that have a general wealth tax are Norway, Spain, and Switzerland. Countries with a selective wealth tax (beyond property taxes) are Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands. Source: pgpf.org/…/what-is-a-wealth-tax-and-should-the-un… (under the heading “How have wealth taxes worked in other countries”)