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Then why does Bill Gates live in a relatively high-tax nation like the US, instead of Qatar? I think that the super-rich are willing to ignore a few percentage

by devinj 16y ago

Then why does Bill Gates live in a relatively high-tax nation like the US, instead of Qatar? I think that the super-rich are willing to ignore a few percentage points in their income, for the sake of other concerns. They're so rich, that they can afford to pay the tax required to stay with their family and friends.

TomOfTTB 16y ago
Well first if you are going to use Bill Gates as an example you should know a little bit more about Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a very liberal guy. He's on record as saying he doesn't plan to leave any of his money to his children and plans to devote it all to charity just as one example. His father, who's also the head of his foundation, is on record as saying he is in favor of and 99% tax rate. So Bill Gates really doesn't care. But on the topic of just your ordinary super rich person I think you're right. One or two percentage points won't make a difference to them. It certainly won't motivate them to leave the country. But what this author seems to be suggesting is that taxing the super rich can solve all of society's ills. In order to do that you need to tax them far more than just a couple percentage points. And everyone will have their threshold. The super rich can afford to fly back and forth all they want so eventually they're just going to move their official residence elsewhere and fly back to the United States when they need to. (To give just one example Arnold Schwarzenegger literally commuted by plane during his second term as governor of California. He would fly, via private plane, to Sacramento in the morning and then fly back to Los Angeles in the evening)
- _delirium 16y ago
  The super rich can afford to fly back and forth all they want so eventually they're just going to move their official residence elsewhere and fly back to the United States when they need to. It's a bit trickier than that: to avoid U.S. income tax you have to permanently renounce U.S. citizenship, not only move your residence. Though it's probably true that you could then still fly back to the U.S. for trips of up to 90 days, since I would guess that the rich person's new citizenship would likely be in a country that's part of the U.S. visa-waiver program.

by devinj 16y ago

TomOfTTB 16y ago

Well first if you are going to use Bill Gates as an example you should know a little bit more about Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a very liberal guy. He's on record as saying he doesn't plan to leave any of his money to his children and plans to devote it all to charity just as one example. His father, who's also the head of his foundation, is on record as saying he is in favor of and 99% tax rate. So Bill Gates really doesn't care. But on the topic of just your ordinary super rich person I think you're right. One or two percentage points won't make a difference to them. It certainly won't motivate them to leave the country. But what this author seems to be suggesting is that taxing the super rich can solve all of society's ills. In order to do that you need to tax them far more than just a couple percentage points. And everyone will have their threshold. The super rich can afford to fly back and forth all they want so eventually they're just going to move their official residence elsewhere and fly back to the United States when they need to. (To give just one example Arnold Schwarzenegger literally commuted by plane during his second term as governor of California. He would fly, via private plane, to Sacramento in the morning and then fly back to Los Angeles in the evening)

_delirium 16y ago
The super rich can afford to fly back and forth all they want so eventually they're just going to move their official residence elsewhere and fly back to the United States when they need to. It's a bit trickier than that: to avoid U.S. income tax you have to permanently renounce U.S. citizenship, not only move your residence. Though it's probably true that you could then still fly back to the U.S. for trips of up to 90 days, since I would guess that the rich person's new citizenship would likely be in a country that's part of the U.S. visa-waiver program.