Re:Some Democrats Are Trying to Preemptively Outlaw a Billio...
by jfengel on Friday September 22, 2023 @02:20PM
(#37615673)
Somehow, Colombia, France, Norway, Spain and Switzerland make it work.
I don't doubt that it's an accounting nightmare, but Elon Musk can afford an accountant who can apply the Generally Accepted Accounting Practices.
I have no doubt that games would be played, and that the IRS would constantly play cat-and-mouse with them. Arguably, we could solve the problem without a wealth tax just by funding the IRS properly to enforce the rules already on the books.
That's why things like this happen. Rules get written; wealthy people subvert them; new rules pile on more. It's not great, but it's better than the alternative of just giving up.
I actually have no idea whether a wealth tax is a net benefit. I just know that it's not going to happen in my lifetime (not with a Supreme Court guaranteed to find it unconstitutional), so I don't spend any time thinking about it on the merits.
I don't doubt that it's an accounting nightmare, but Elon Musk can afford an accountant who can apply the Generally Accepted Accounting Practices.
I have no doubt that games would be played, and that the IRS would constantly play cat-and-mouse with them. Arguably, we could solve the problem without a wealth tax just by funding the IRS properly to enforce the rules already on the books.
That's why things like this happen. Rules get written; wealthy people subvert them; new rules pile on more. It's not great, but it's better than the alternative of just giving up.
I actually have no idea whether a wealth tax is a net benefit. I just know that it's not going to happen in my lifetime (not with a Supreme Court guaranteed to find it unconstitutional), so I don't spend any time thinking about it on the merits.