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There is actually no sense to put high taxes on ultra wealthy people. They have all means to avoid payment of income/profit taxes at all, no matter of the curre

There is actually no sense to put high taxes on ultra wealthy people. They have all means to avoid payment of income/profit taxes at all, no matter of the current tax rate. That's why poor people pay the highest percentage of their income: they have no choice, no ways to do tax evasion.

xienze 1y ago
> That's why poor people pay the highest percentage of their income The key word here is income. “Wealth” and “income” tend to be conflated by ostensibly intelligent people who should know better. If I’m granted a million dollars in stock but draw a $20K salary, I’m “wealthy” but not “paying my fair share” because I’ve hardly earned any income for the year.
- ponector 1y ago
  Is it right? From my knowledge stock compensation is considered as income and is taxed. But I got your point. There are ways to be wealthy, have a rich lifestyle but report no taxable income/profit. What you actually want is to have a wealth tax like in Switzerland. 0.05-0.3% annual tax based on net assets.
  - Workaccount2 1y ago
    Realizing stock value (selling stock) is considered income.
    - ponector 1y ago
      Looks like you are talking about stock options, not stocks. If you receive a stock as compensation - it is an income. If you sell them years later with profit - it is additional extra income.
  - FireBeyond 1y ago
    > Is it right? From my knowledge stock compensation is considered as income and is taxed. Unless you have enough stock that you can take a zero or low interest loan against that stock as collateral and kick that can down the road until you die and there's a huge threshold for estate tax, that is if you've not got it structured so that the stock is owned by a trust.
badpun 1y ago
You’re essentially saying that rich people are above the law. If that’s the case, we should fix that first.
- ponector 1y ago
  That's right. Look at Trump and his friends. Also you have no means to change the law. But ultra rich people can push/promote "correct" people to the government or to be elected. Like Musk did.
- adammarples 1y ago
  They're not above the law, but they have the choice of which legal jurisdiction they reside in.
  - simonask 1y ago
    And so we arrive at the old insight that the fight against inequality needs to be global. But I think you underestimate the possibilities. You can just design the law to make taxation a prerequisite for doing business. That's what the EU is (trying to) do, and it seems to work well. Doing business in the EU and the US is a lot more profitable than not doing business there, even if you pay taxes. That's kind of the point.
    - Workaccount2 1y ago
      If people don't want billionaires, they should quit their addiction to billionaires products. "I hate Jeff Bezos, by I'll be damned if I have to give up same day delivery $6 Chinese mugs. The local made ones are $40!"
      - vunderba 1y ago
        I'd go a step further and say that (particularly if you are in the IT industry) and are also ideologically opposed to megacorps like Facebook, Amazon, etc. that you should deny them the power of your labor.
      - 1y ago

xienze 1y ago

> That's why poor people pay the highest percentage of their income The key word here is income. “Wealth” and “income” tend to be conflated by ostensibly intelligent people who should know better. If I’m granted a million dollars in stock but draw a $20K salary, I’m “wealthy” but not “paying my fair share” because I’ve hardly earned any income for the year.

ponector 1y ago
Is it right? From my knowledge stock compensation is considered as income and is taxed. But I got your point. There are ways to be wealthy, have a rich lifestyle but report no taxable income/profit. What you actually want is to have a wealth tax like in Switzerland. 0.05-0.3% annual tax based on net assets.
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  Realizing stock value (selling stock) is considered income.
  - ponector 1y ago
    Looks like you are talking about stock options, not stocks. If you receive a stock as compensation - it is an income. If you sell them years later with profit - it is additional extra income.
- FireBeyond 1y ago
  > Is it right? From my knowledge stock compensation is considered as income and is taxed. Unless you have enough stock that you can take a zero or low interest loan against that stock as collateral and kick that can down the road until you die and there's a huge threshold for estate tax, that is if you've not got it structured so that the stock is owned by a trust.

badpun 1y ago

You’re essentially saying that rich people are above the law. If that’s the case, we should fix that first.

ponector 1y ago
That's right. Look at Trump and his friends. Also you have no means to change the law. But ultra rich people can push/promote "correct" people to the government or to be elected. Like Musk did.
adammarples 1y ago
They're not above the law, but they have the choice of which legal jurisdiction they reside in.
- simonask 1y ago
  And so we arrive at the old insight that the fight against inequality needs to be global. But I think you underestimate the possibilities. You can just design the law to make taxation a prerequisite for doing business. That's what the EU is (trying to) do, and it seems to work well. Doing business in the EU and the US is a lot more profitable than not doing business there, even if you pay taxes. That's kind of the point.
  - Workaccount2 1y ago
    If people don't want billionaires, they should quit their addiction to billionaires products. "I hate Jeff Bezos, by I'll be damned if I have to give up same day delivery $6 Chinese mugs. The local made ones are $40!"
    - vunderba 1y ago
      I'd go a step further and say that (particularly if you are in the IT industry) and are also ideologically opposed to megacorps like Facebook, Amazon, etc. that you should deny them the power of your labor.
    - 1y ago