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> For example, Mark Zuckerberg has a lot of money. So much that he can buy a mega-yacht and it not really affect him financially. That phrasing deserves a paus

by mrkeen 2y ago

> For example, Mark Zuckerberg has a lot of money. So much that he can buy a mega-yacht and it not really affect him financially. That phrasing deserves a pause. If someone has money, it came from somewhere - income - which is taxed. If you play that in reverse: someone who paid no tax had no income, and therefore no money. Zuckerberg paid 13.7% tax [1]. Ballpark figure income [2,3] for that effective tax rate is $95K/year. You couldn't maintain a yacht on that income, let alone rent or buy one. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/13/wealthiest-americans-tax-income-propublica-investigation https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/13/wealthiest-a... [2] https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes#9S4WHcw5WA https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes#9S4WHcw5WA [3] https://www.taxact.com/tools/tax-calculator https://www.taxact.com/tools/tax-calculator

dirtdobber 2y ago
Hmm, I'm not sure what you're getting at or how it relates to my question. Also, someone could have received lots of income, say 5 years ago, at which point their income tax would be very high. The following years their income tax might be low if they, e.g., don't sell any stocks or take distributions from various trusts they have set up.