Economists Are Rethinking the Numbers on Inequality

Re:Economists Are Rethinking the Numbers on Inequality by hnick on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @07:58PM (#21708953)

I'm not even sure how accurately some small businesses can be valued. A local cupcake lady or artist might run a business that makes decent money, but all the income and value is derived from their unique style. Remove them and the business is almost worthless.

If a tax on capital is instituted are there mechanisms to value such cases?

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Re:Economists Are Rethinking the Numbers on Inequality by SamBam on Thursday December 05, 2019 @09:58AM (#21712762)

With the current wealth-tax proposals by Warren and Sanders. the owner first of all would probably owe zero wealth tax unless she was worth more than $32 million, or $50 million for Warren. I doubt any local cupcake businesses are worth anywhere close to that much.

Second, an actual business of that size would probably be owned by some other corporate entity created for that purpose, not an individual, and that entity would be paying its own taxes.

Finally, Warren and Sanders both plan on beefing up the IRS to answer these kinds of questions, which will certainly be thorny for some kinds of assets.

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