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> the only reasonable solution for this is a tax on owned capital (not on income or cap gains) and the political chances of this happening are slim Seems to be

by davedx 7y ago

> the only reasonable solution for this is a tax on owned capital (not on income or cap gains) and the political chances of this happening are slim Seems to be a cornerstone policy of multiple presidential candidates in the US at the moment. We have it in the Netherlands. I don't think it's that unlikely. Not sure how much it helps with inequality in the Netherlands though. If anything I think it stimulates people and businesses to invest, which either means the wealthy people make more money, or they lose it. At the most it creates jobs. People on low salaries aren't really benefited.

leto_ii 7y ago
In the Netherlands (where I currently reside as well) I think this tax can easily be avoided by placing your assets in some sort of shell company. When the startup I used to work for IPO'd I was not surprised to find that most of the important stockholders were using such companies (presumably) to avoid being taxed on their hundreds of millions/billions of euros.
- consp 7y ago
  As soon as you get it out of there either as income (at least some part is required) or as dividend and you start paying taxes. Not before so this is allowed and legal (and smart). They are about 25-30% in total well below the top tier of about 52% in case of income tax.
- davedx 7y ago
  I know that the Belastingdienst is going after people pretty hard for tax avoidance/evasion at the moment. Things are changing quite quickly in this area in the EU, and NL is no exception. What worked well for people 5 years ago could well result in a pretty full on audit now leading to nasty bills to pay back owed taxes. The only problem is companies like Amazon, Google etc. are still getting away with paying 0 taxes everywhere... easier for the Belastingdienst to take on SME's first I guess. :/
rayiner 7y ago
Note that the Dutch wealth tax replaces their capital gains tax. It’s a tax on the assumed returns on capital assets. (Of course unlike a capital gains tax the wealth tax reaches unrealized gains. But the rate is also lower than a capital gains tax would be. It’s possible to come out ahead compared to a capital gains tax depending on your situation.)
- davedx 7y ago
  Yeah. IIRC the "assumed returns" is finally going to be changed now so it's more in line with actual returns outside of more risky single stock investments (or other risky ventures)

by davedx 7y ago

leto_ii 7y ago

In the Netherlands (where I currently reside as well) I think this tax can easily be avoided by placing your assets in some sort of shell company. When the startup I used to work for IPO'd I was not surprised to find that most of the important stockholders were using such companies (presumably) to avoid being taxed on their hundreds of millions/billions of euros.

consp 7y ago
As soon as you get it out of there either as income (at least some part is required) or as dividend and you start paying taxes. Not before so this is allowed and legal (and smart). They are about 25-30% in total well below the top tier of about 52% in case of income tax.
davedx 7y ago
I know that the Belastingdienst is going after people pretty hard for tax avoidance/evasion at the moment. Things are changing quite quickly in this area in the EU, and NL is no exception. What worked well for people 5 years ago could well result in a pretty full on audit now leading to nasty bills to pay back owed taxes. The only problem is companies like Amazon, Google etc. are still getting away with paying 0 taxes everywhere... easier for the Belastingdienst to take on SME's first I guess. :/

rayiner 7y ago

Note that the Dutch wealth tax replaces their capital gains tax. It’s a tax on the assumed returns on capital assets. (Of course unlike a capital gains tax the wealth tax reaches unrealized gains. But the rate is also lower than a capital gains tax would be. It’s possible to come out ahead compared to a capital gains tax depending on your situation.)

davedx 7y ago
Yeah. IIRC the "assumed returns" is finally going to be changed now so it's more in line with actual returns outside of more risky single stock investments (or other risky ventures)