4 ms·
If the US government got nonvoting shares in startups along with VC's then that could bring in lots of revenue from capital gains without calling it "taxes." I
by skybrian 4mo ago
If the US government got nonvoting shares in startups along with VC's then that could bring in lots of revenue from capital gains without calling it "taxes."
If it were in return for a tax break then they might even do it voluntarily. The key would be to get in while valuation is low.
- Guvante 4mo agoWhat capital gains? The governments balance sheet doesn't matter... Think of it like the original Bitcoin wallet, its value is $0 because none of those will ever be sold. If dividends are involved it could matter but the government basically gets 20% of dividends already and extra 4% doesn't make a huge difference. Returning to blocking stock buybacks as price manipulation and forcing businesses to give out dividends again would actually impact revenue in a meaningful way in contrast.
- skybrian 4mo agoDividends and stock buybacks are equivalent except for the tax consequences. Money is flowing from the company to investors. If, say, the government had 20% of the stock and sold it into the buyback to remain at 20%, that's similar to a dividend. So this ends up being equivalent to taxes on both dividends and buybacks (and other economic participation like buyouts from mergers), except that no investor in particular has to pay the tax.
- Guvante 4mo ago"Ignoring tax consequences" when talking about government funding? That makes your entire response worthless.
- pohl 4mo agoThe government would need to sell their position in order to have gains.