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It's too bad a Wealth Tax isn't even discussed in politics anymore. Seems like it could solve a significant amount of these tax loopholes. https://en.wikipedia
by jobu 9y ago
It's too bad a Wealth Tax isn't even discussed in politics anymore. Seems like it could solve a significant amount of these tax loopholes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_tax
- solaxun 9y agoI've been asking this question for years - I think they are great in theory but probably hard to actually enforce.
- coltonv 9y agoThey would also never be supported by the powers the lobby billions to congress. Nothing that negatively affects the assets of the people who give congresspeople billions will be enacted in the forseeable future. Even if both houses switch heavily Blue/Red/Something else, lobbying touches all.
- WalterBright 9y agoHow does that explain Obama's huge tax increase?
- kmonsen 9y agoNorway has (had?) one, the problem is that the wealthy claims it brings advantages to foreign capital so it will never happen in the US. This easiest is to tax things that cannot move away, like real estate instead of giving giant deductions.
- ThrustVectoring 9y agoTaxing the unimproved value of land has the additional advantage that people cannot decide to create less of it in response to the tax disincentive. I really wish we went full Georgism back in the day.
- lr4444lr 9y agoChurches and their congregants would never go for it. I don't know how big a share we'd lose without their revenue, but it's hard to imagine it would NOT be a serious issue.
- ThrustVectoring 9y agoChurches are already exempt from paying real-estate taxes on their religious buildings. And they're exempt from paying taxes on any income they get from investment, too. It's a net wash - as long as churches have exempt investment assets of some sort that fund their religious and charitable activity (and not unrelated businesses), we're not getting tax income from them either way.
- lr4444lr 9y agoI'm not sure if you understood me or if I understand you. If churches do not have to pay capital gains or property taxes now, how do they not lose ground under a Georgist system?
- ThrustVectoring 9y agoI think I just kind of assumed that churches and other qualified charities would not be required to pay taxes on the unimproved value of land, much like they aren't required to pay property taxes or capital gains taxes today.
- munk-a 9y agoYea, thankfully the current plan proposes removing the estate tax to make sure we don't have any sorts of progressive taxes left...
- basseq 9y agoThis easiest is to tax things that cannot move away, like real estate instead of giving giant deductions. States and localities absolutely do. "The federal government is generally prohibited from imposing direct taxes unless such taxes are then given to the states in proportion to population."
- gamad 9y agoA frugal, thrifty person who saves money so he can retire shouldn't be punished by having his nest-egg eaten away. The only fair way is to tax people upon death.
- X86BSD 9y agoWhat would solve all "loopholes" is just going to a damn flat national sales tax. Period. End of story. Thank you drive through. Stop trying to mangle this demonic beast of a tax code we have now, it won't work and never has. And simply toss it. One paragraph as the replacement. 38% or whatever agreed upon percent as a national flat sales tax. And for the bleeding hearts that will scream this hurts the poor, Sentence two: The first 5,000/year in clothing tax free, and the First 10,000/year in food tax free. IRS? Dissolved. H&R block? Dissolved. No more audits. No more income tax. You keep your entire paycheck! No more asset seizure by the IRS. No more tax fraud. No more tax evasion.
- ph0rque 9y ago> The first 5,000/year in clothing tax free Per person? In that case, we can lower it to $1k/year.
- padobson 9y agoSentence two: The first 5,000/year in clothing tax free, and the First 10,000/year in food tax free. I like plans that take care of this with a prebate - $200-$500/mo checks for everyone. It could also be a precursor to UBI.
- openasocket 9y ago325M people getting $500/mo is $1.95 trillion / year. That would be the largest entitlement program in American history, and about 10.5% of GDP.
- ddebernardy 9y agoIn the context of 25-50% of people losing their job to AI in the next decade or three, such an entitlement or a much bigger one might come to being.
- snarf21 9y agoWouldn't you have a better chance of passing 0 federal taxes for anyone under 2x poverty level with a similar benefit?
- snarf21 9y agoIt just seems like the really wealthy would just keep it overseas or find other ways to hide it. Wealth is not always objective. Also, what do you do for someone who bought a house 40 years ago near SV for $80K and it is now worth $1.5M. Are you going to tax them (in addition to property tax) and force them to move? Are they your target? Personally, I think we need to keep the inheritance tax and remove other loop holes when people are making money. For instance, there is no reason we can't get rid of like kind exchange. People are always more readily accepting to pay a tax out of part of their profits.
- mdemare 9y agoThe Netherlands has a wealth tax of about 1.2% per annum; property you live in is not taxed (via the wealth tax)
- WalterBright 9y agoWe do have wealth taxes. Two of the largest are inflation and property taxes.
- howard941 9y agoIf we had inflation wages would rise and it'd be a lot easier to pay down debt than it actually is.
- WalterBright 9y agoWhen I was young minimum wage was $2.35, now it's $15 (in Seattle). Seems like it's rising.
- pgwhalen 9y agoIt's worth pointing out that property taxes can't really be avoided in practice, cause we all need somewhere to live, and those taxes are filtering down in some form.
- WalterBright 9y agoNeither can inflation.
- pgwhalen 9y agoRight, I figured the sibling commenter covered that.
- rojoca 9y agoOne (unsuccessful) party in the recent NZ election proposed a tax on productive assets, including land and housing but excluding financial assets which would already be taxed. It would only be levied if those assets did not produce some minimum return. This was in response to the wild property speculation that has made housing increasingly unaffordable for many people as well as stagnating productivity.
- test6554 9y agoKeep reading that wikipedia article especially the "Disadvantages" section: * Capital flight (people invest in other countries with more sane tax policies) * recessionary effects, including job loss. * huge burden on small business owners that are barely making a profit * Incorrect, unequal or subjective valuation of wealth * Disproportionate effect on seniors * Wealth taxes had high management cost and relatively low returns.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]