> Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos paid a true tax rate of 0.98% as his wealth grew by a staggering $99 billion between 2014 and 2018; he reported just $4.22 b

> Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos paid a true tax rate of 0.98% as his wealth grew by a staggering $99 billion between 2014 and 2018; he reported just $4.22 billion in reported income during the same period. I'm curious how I should rationalize that this is not in fact a giant loophole for billionaires. Bezos' wealth increased immensely such that he is now one of the richest people in the world, and yet his effective tax rate is far lower than anything you or I will ever see. If he needs "income", he can simply take out a low interest loan with his stock as collateral to pay for whatever he needs (yachts, spurious lawsuits against NASA, etc.). His stock is effectively cash, loans effectively "realize" his gains, and yet we don't treat any of it as income. There's a vast difference between the unrealized gains of not-filthy-rich people with 401ks / middling stock portfolios and the unrealized gains of filthy rich people who primarily take stock as income (which they do for the exact purpose of paying lower taxes). [0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2021/06/08/richest-americans-including-bezos-musk-and-buffett-paid-federal-income-taxes-equaling-just-34-of-401-billion-in-new-wealth-bombshell-report-shows/?sh=1b5cda287fe1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2021/06/08/richest-...