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That's absolutely what it is at the core. The problem with it's application has been proven over and over again; the very wealthy have the means and motivation

That's absolutely what it is at the core. The problem with it's application has been proven over and over again; the very wealthy have the means and motivation to avoid it while the burden falls on the same segment of the population over and over again.

magduf 8y ago
The solution is simple: legislate so the very wealthy can't avoid it, while remaining in the country. It's really not that hard: if they have assets here and reside here, then you tax them, and seize them if necessary. The only reason this isn't done is because too many people vote for politicians who pass laws favorable to the very wealthy.
- dev_dull 8y ago
  You don't think they've tried to "legislate" it so people can't avoid it? It involves guns and prisons.
  - marcosdumay 8y ago
    No, I don't think that. The one thing governments don't try is to homogeneously tax rich people. I do think governments all over the world work hard to find some way to tax their foes and let their friend pay a pittance. At the same time, they don't care any bit about the people with just barely a surplus, that end up collectively paying most of it.
- xienze 8y ago
  > The solution is simple: legislate so the very wealthy can't avoid it, while remaining in the country. ... then they'll leave the country. I don't think you've thought this through.
  - fizx 8y ago
    At least in the USA, its very hard to expatriate to avoid taxes. IIRC it requires a one-time payment of ~40% of your net-worth and you to have citizenship somewhere else. Other countries could follow suit, though the USA probably has the easiest time enforcing due to its global hegemony.
  - munk-a 8y ago
    America has a real problem with money in politics which has prevented strong penalties on top earners. But, the US does currently levy a minimum tax total for overseas personal income, it basically can be summarized as "If you earned X in the US you'd owe us Y, you payed the government of the country you're residing in Z which is less than Y, you owe the US government Y-Z", this law is extremely poorly enforced currently but even if they leave the country they still owe the taxes, legally speaking. If they flee to other countries and illegally circumvent the law then that's where the US should start flexing it's muscles.
    - xienze 8y ago
      Yep, and you can just renounce your US citizenship. That Facebook guy did it a couple years ago.
  - manicdee 8y ago
    How do you take real estate out of the country?
  - magduf 8y ago
    1) As the other poster said, how do you take real estate out of the country? 2) Where are they going to go? Somalia? Other countries are going to tax them at least as much. These rich people aren't idle rich, they're rich because they're working in some capacity. You can't do that in Somalia. They get their wealth from being located here. That means they can be taxed here.
    - xienze 8y ago
      >As the other poster said, how do you take real estate out of the country? Sell it. Or don't, it's their choice. At some point real estate holdings aren't worth it if your host country decides it's entitled to 95% of your wealth. >Where are they going to go? Somalia? Other countries are going to tax them at least as much. There will always be another first-world country more than willing to undercut other first-world countries for the opportunity to host wealthy citizens. It's the same principle that gets us to where we are today, with states competing against each other to give tax breaks to corporations to entice them to set up shop. It's funny how there's no end to people complaining about how the wealthy always seem to get out of paying their "fair share" through loopholes, but THIS TIME, we've got a foolproof plan to redistribute their wealth that they can't weasel out of! Sure thing.
      - magduf 8y ago
        What exactly are these people going to do to earn money in these new countries? We're not talking about idle billionaires here, we're talking about very high-earning people.
- eikenberry 8y ago
  Legislation unfortunately involves legislators, people who really like the money those wealthy people give them. As long as we have legalized bribery I don't see it happening.
  - magduf 8y ago
    Well, just as I said before, it's really not hard. Ban bribery. Plenty of other nations don't have legalized bribery (such as just about any western European nation), so it's not like it's an impossible task.
- CryptoPunk 8y ago
  This would cause massive capital flight and long-term capital avoidance of that jurisdiction.

magduf 8y ago

The solution is simple: legislate so the very wealthy can't avoid it, while remaining in the country. It's really not that hard: if they have assets here and reside here, then you tax them, and seize them if necessary. The only reason this isn't done is because too many people vote for politicians who pass laws favorable to the very wealthy.

dev_dull 8y ago
You don't think they've tried to "legislate" it so people can't avoid it? It involves guns and prisons.
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  No, I don't think that. The one thing governments don't try is to homogeneously tax rich people. I do think governments all over the world work hard to find some way to tax their foes and let their friend pay a pittance. At the same time, they don't care any bit about the people with just barely a surplus, that end up collectively paying most of it.
xienze 8y ago
> The solution is simple: legislate so the very wealthy can't avoid it, while remaining in the country. ... then they'll leave the country. I don't think you've thought this through.
- fizx 8y ago
  At least in the USA, its very hard to expatriate to avoid taxes. IIRC it requires a one-time payment of ~40% of your net-worth and you to have citizenship somewhere else. Other countries could follow suit, though the USA probably has the easiest time enforcing due to its global hegemony.
- munk-a 8y ago
  America has a real problem with money in politics which has prevented strong penalties on top earners. But, the US does currently levy a minimum tax total for overseas personal income, it basically can be summarized as "If you earned X in the US you'd owe us Y, you payed the government of the country you're residing in Z which is less than Y, you owe the US government Y-Z", this law is extremely poorly enforced currently but even if they leave the country they still owe the taxes, legally speaking. If they flee to other countries and illegally circumvent the law then that's where the US should start flexing it's muscles.
  - xienze 8y ago
    Yep, and you can just renounce your US citizenship. That Facebook guy did it a couple years ago.
- manicdee 8y ago
  How do you take real estate out of the country?
- magduf 8y ago
  1) As the other poster said, how do you take real estate out of the country? 2) Where are they going to go? Somalia? Other countries are going to tax them at least as much. These rich people aren't idle rich, they're rich because they're working in some capacity. You can't do that in Somalia. They get their wealth from being located here. That means they can be taxed here.
  - xienze 8y ago
    >As the other poster said, how do you take real estate out of the country? Sell it. Or don't, it's their choice. At some point real estate holdings aren't worth it if your host country decides it's entitled to 95% of your wealth. >Where are they going to go? Somalia? Other countries are going to tax them at least as much. There will always be another first-world country more than willing to undercut other first-world countries for the opportunity to host wealthy citizens. It's the same principle that gets us to where we are today, with states competing against each other to give tax breaks to corporations to entice them to set up shop. It's funny how there's no end to people complaining about how the wealthy always seem to get out of paying their "fair share" through loopholes, but THIS TIME, we've got a foolproof plan to redistribute their wealth that they can't weasel out of! Sure thing.
    - magduf 8y ago
      What exactly are these people going to do to earn money in these new countries? We're not talking about idle billionaires here, we're talking about very high-earning people.
eikenberry 8y ago
Legislation unfortunately involves legislators, people who really like the money those wealthy people give them. As long as we have legalized bribery I don't see it happening.
- magduf 8y ago
  Well, just as I said before, it's really not hard. Ban bribery. Plenty of other nations don't have legalized bribery (such as just about any western European nation), so it's not like it's an impossible task.
CryptoPunk 8y ago
This would cause massive capital flight and long-term capital avoidance of that jurisdiction.