Re:Elon Musk becomes world’s richest person as wealth tops $...
by xur17 on Thursday January 07, 2021 @11:19PM
(#25681465)
> The reason we income instead of wealth, is that wealth can go up and down without the owner seeing any benefit.
I don't think a wealth tax is the right solution, a person that holds wealth definitely does derive a benefit from that wealth -> in the form of control (of a company), collateral (borrowing money at sub-inflation rates), and influence.
Re:Elon Musk becomes world’s richest person as wealth tops $...
by s1artibartfast on Friday January 08, 2021 @10:39AM
(#25685724)
Yeah, Totally I agree that wealth comes with benefits, even if it cant be spent. I am curious how the collateral works without with owner of wealth ever having to realize income. I suppose the way it could work is moving from loan to loan, using the newer ones to pay off the older ones. I wonder if there is some way to fix the tax codes to address this.
Re:Elon Musk becomes world’s richest person as wealth tops $...
by apta_ on Friday January 08, 2021 @03:13AM
(#25682678)
Check out Islam's Zakat, which has been proven to work. It's not a wealth tax per se as proposed by some foolish and unrealistic policies, but cash sitting in the bank is taxed at 2.5% (if it is above a certain threshold), and its proceedings go to the needy and poor, among others.
I think the answer to this is a resounding Yes, he would not have done it. Tesla and Musk is the perfect example of why a wealth tax on capital is insane.
Tesla market cap is 750 Billion, but the profit is 500 million, and the stock owners that haven't sold have realized $0 profit.
A 1% wealth tax on Musk's 200b ($1b) would be 4 times higher that the profit of the entire company.
Under the current system, the moment he cashes out any stock, he will have to pay taxes on his actual profit. The reason we income instead of wealth, is that wealth can go up and down without the owner seeing any benefit.