4 ms·

His secretary pays $20 billion?

tombert 7y ago
I don't see why people keep making this same point; yes, Bill Gates pays a higher number of dollars in taxes, but the argument is the tax rate, and saying otherwise seems like you're being purposefully ignorant.
- jaypeg25 7y ago
  If a man who already pays more money in taxes than I'll ever see in my lifetime is willing to DOUBLE that amount, it should be commended. If he's not willing to pay 10X that amount, I have little problem with that.
  - tombert 7y ago
    1) Bill Gates knows damn well that it wouldn't be paying 100 billion dollars in the Warren tax plan; he's not an idiot. He's trying to poison the well. 2) Sure, I'm glad Bill Gates is willing to double that amount. Fun fact, Mr Gates, you don't have to wait until a tax is implemented, if you really think that way, you can donate money straight to the government: [0] 3) Taxes, at least in my lifetime, have always been a tax rate, not a number-of-dollars paid thing. If Jeff Bezos made 20 billion dollars last year, and paid only 1 billion in taxes, that would be a 5% tax rate. Living in NY, depending on my expenses and deductions, I pay upwards of 40% of my income in taxes. Yes, in one year, Bezos would have paid more to the tax pool than I ever would have, but it seems incredibly unfair that a person who has so much would be forced to give comparatively so little, especially since wealth hoarders could also afford to give a substantially higher percentage of their income without an appreciable quality of life change. Granted, I know Bill Gates is, by wealth-hoarder standards, not too bad a guy. I don't think anyone here is arguing that he is, but come on; even if his dishonest framing of "being taxed 100 billion dollars" was true, which it isn't, it's not like his life would even change that much; he'd still be worth billions, he'd still have more money than he knows what to do with, he'd still be able to live a life of luxury on bank interest. Forgive me for not crying over his plight. [0] https://fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html https://fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html ---- EDIT: The 20 billion Bezos thing is a contrived example. I do not know the tax rate for billionaires in NY; it was more a direct response to the "paid more in taxes than I'll ever pay" comment.

I don't see why people keep making this same point; yes, Bill Gates pays a higher number of dollars in taxes, but the argument is the tax rate, and saying otherwise seems like you're being purposefully ignorant.

jaypeg25 7y ago
If a man who already pays more money in taxes than I'll ever see in my lifetime is willing to DOUBLE that amount, it should be commended. If he's not willing to pay 10X that amount, I have little problem with that.
- tombert 7y ago
  1) Bill Gates knows damn well that it wouldn't be paying 100 billion dollars in the Warren tax plan; he's not an idiot. He's trying to poison the well. 2) Sure, I'm glad Bill Gates is willing to double that amount. Fun fact, Mr Gates, you don't have to wait until a tax is implemented, if you really think that way, you can donate money straight to the government: [0] 3) Taxes, at least in my lifetime, have always been a tax rate, not a number-of-dollars paid thing. If Jeff Bezos made 20 billion dollars last year, and paid only 1 billion in taxes, that would be a 5% tax rate. Living in NY, depending on my expenses and deductions, I pay upwards of 40% of my income in taxes. Yes, in one year, Bezos would have paid more to the tax pool than I ever would have, but it seems incredibly unfair that a person who has so much would be forced to give comparatively so little, especially since wealth hoarders could also afford to give a substantially higher percentage of their income without an appreciable quality of life change. Granted, I know Bill Gates is, by wealth-hoarder standards, not too bad a guy. I don't think anyone here is arguing that he is, but come on; even if his dishonest framing of "being taxed 100 billion dollars" was true, which it isn't, it's not like his life would even change that much; he'd still be worth billions, he'd still have more money than he knows what to do with, he'd still be able to live a life of luxury on bank interest. Forgive me for not crying over his plight. [0] https://fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html https://fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html ---- EDIT: The 20 billion Bezos thing is a contrived example. I do not know the tax rate for billionaires in NY; it was more a direct response to the "paid more in taxes than I'll ever pay" comment.