Re:IRS records reveal how the wealthiest avoid income tax
by ncallaway on Tuesday June 08, 2021 @08:56AM
(#27434513)
I feel like "capital gains" occupy a strange middle-ground between income and wealth.
Capital gains clearly represent a change in your wealth, and are somewhat "income-like". But they also are a persistent thing that you are in control of until the time of sale, and are somewhat "property-like".
It seems plausible that we could come up with a reasonable-scheme for capital gains taxes that manages to accommodate both properties, but I think it'd take a fair amount of consideration to make sure that there aren't nasty edge cases, and the benefits outweigh the additional accounting.
Re:IRS records reveal how the wealthiest avoid income tax
by TimPC on Tuesday June 08, 2021 @09:59AM
(#27435299)
Capital gains aren't a strange middle ground. They are the best attempt to have an income system work: they allow the taxation of income from money. A system that taxes only income from labour is grossly unfair to the poor. A system that taxes all wealth is overly bureaucratic and deeply invasive.
I suppose because property values are considered to be more stable than, say, GameStock puts. But you raise a good point, that what we're talking about (really) is a "how we should tax _wealth_" vs "how should we tax _capital gains_".