this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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359
Make Billionaires Pay (Their Taxes) (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
27 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

For the first time in the history of the United States, billionaires had a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans.

all 29 comments
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[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago

" "Wow. I bet before the 1970's the super rich were unable to make, create, or do anything. There must have been almost no innovation or job creation, and I bet like 95% of America couldn't even afford to buy a house or a car because their taxes were just too high to be a capitalist." "

The double quotations aren't a mistake. They represent to holding up double rabbit ears while reading this. Made typing a challenge, tho.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

This is super simple. In 2022 the US federal government brought in $2.18 Trillion in revenue from federal income tax. Roughly %66 percent of Americans make over $50,000 and the median income of that group of people is around $60,000 a year. If it was made illegal to be compensated by anything other than USD (paid with stocks, etc. and those loopholes). $0-$50,000 is not taxed. If you make over $50,000 you pay a flat %17 income tax period. That would bring in roughly $2.24 Trillion in federal income tax revenue. No loop holes, no deductions, just %17 off the top. Then you can disband the IRS which costs $16 Billion a year to run. Don't need the IRS if everyone pays the same. That would be totally fair. You make $60,000 a year you pay $10,200 a year, you make $1 Billion a year $170,000,000 a year.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Under your simplified system a person making 55k brings in less than someone making 49k. Which disincentives getting a raise at that salary range. There is a reason that currently we only tax money over the brackets set.

Progressive taxation isn't really the problem here though, our low tax on investment profit is. We should also probably enforce a 2% wealth tax on anyone making over a billion dollars.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

We mostly don't want to do that — billionaires have a much greater ability to pay and are harmed far less by paying more. So it makes sense to have a progressive tax system, where the more you earn, the higher the marginal tax rate.

And you don't want to allow people to hide personal expenses as business expenses, and the likes, which is where much of the complexity of the tax code comes from.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Right now Billionaires don't have money just lying around to pay taxes with, it's tied up in owned business, properties, stocks, etc. I know, this is a part of the internet that just wants to eat the rich, I'm not one of them. They are just playing the game. The problem is the government allows them to play the game in such a way that is able to make them a lot more money. The problem is, the rules the government has made allows this to happen. If you drastically simplify the tax code, like to be one paragraph and eliminate the loop holes, it will settle itself out. The only way to do that though is to replace every person in Washington because they are taking advantage of it as well.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Billionaires can liquidate assets to pay taxes as needed — particularly income taxes, where that's easy.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If you took half of all the billionaires wealth in the US it would be worth 1 year of IRS tax revenue. Or two year's of our deficit. Then what?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The point is requiring them to pay a higher percentage because they've benefitted more from the way society is put together. Not to end all other taxation.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

did I read the article right?

in the EU - everyone but the billionaires pay 50% total tax; but then THEIR billionaires also drop to the 25%-ish range?

so... it's even WORSE disparity in EU?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Depends on where in the EU:

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Its even worse than that. I'm working class. With federal, state, FICA, sales tax, and property tax, I pay like 40% of my income to taxes.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

I have a hard time thinking of anything more important than addressing this, now.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Good thing Biden increased the number of IRS employees so they can do that.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

What they can do is to make sure billionaires pay what they owe. What they can't do is set the tax rate. That takes Congress

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Which the last Congress did.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

They did?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

But but but I'm not going to vote in protest!1! That will surely magically raise the tax rate somehow! /s

If you want to raise taxes, then vote. Dems can't do as much when there a real threat of losing to the GOP who want a free for all, every man for themselves, free market. You want change, then vote.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago

Normally don’t think there’s much of opinion pieces but this was a good one. Well, researched, covering an important issue that most people have relatively low understanding of. Concrete policy proposals to address it. Thanks for sharing!

[–] [email protected] 39 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Tax them? De-billionaire them

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

Under the (currently dominant) credit theory of money, the implication is that billionaires owe the government a lot of money... and it's time to pay up.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago

Taxes are one method for doing this. Though it has to be a high enough tax.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Found the Reagan administration

[–] [email protected] 43 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The "golden age of capitalism" was due to this. Wealthy people paid their fair share. That and some exploitation of the global south.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You're not really paying your fair share while exploiting someone

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Cold probably be calculated in. Like with import tax on goods/services that are gained through exploitation, or jail time.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

It's an all too reasonable ask.