Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Challenges

Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by avmich on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @01:21AM (#24338798)

The idea is that all the money are earned in a society, so social equality is a common concern. People tried different approaches to control equality, and the proposal which currently looks like one of better ones is this.

It's not about "how much money they have left". It's about "it's hard to effectively tax at the earning time, so taxation is applied to leftovers".

> As far as I know there’s no basis for this ever having been done in human history.

So wealth tax as a term exist for a purely theoretical concept?

The goal is noble, of course, as always. With good intentions... It would be nice if a better mechanism for keeping society on somewhat equal footing would be offered instead.

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Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by fastball on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @05:13AM (#24339835)

What you're talking about sounds more like forced equity, which many people find immoral.

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Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by sokoloff on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @05:44AM (#24340008)

I find it undesirable from a purely practical standpoint.

I want people working to improve the human condition. One way to encourage that is to reward people who meet the needs of other people, as evidenced by people paying them money for goods and services.

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Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by CuriouslyC on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @10:17AM (#24341946)

Unfortunately, often people give other people money for a lot of reasons other than meeting their needs. Creating a "need" that didn't exist only so you can sell a product that people think will make them happy but actually won't is the basis of modern capitalism.

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Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by dantheman on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @11:19AM (#24342730)

Really it's the basis of modern capitalism? Please, tell me what things people are bamboozled to buy?

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Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by CuriouslyC on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @03:21PM (#24345825)

The list is pretty long, with diamond engagement rings being pretty obvious and most apple products being slightly less so.

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Re:Calif. Wealth Tax Proposal Likely Faces Constitutional Ch... by fastball on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @09:29AM (#24352982)

Diamond engagement rings seem more like the exception not the rule.

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