People don’t realize that billionaires don’t have their billions sitting in a bank account somewhere like you or I might have our own life savings tucked away in a savings account. That would be foolish of them, obviously, the FDIC won’t insure them past a certain point, so a bank failure could cause them to lose everything.
Every single billionaire is only a billionaire “on paper”. It’s the sum total of all their assets, both liquid and non-liquid (like stocks, but also properties, etc.). They leverage their assets as collateral for a loan, and then use that loan to buy the stuff they want or just use it to make more investments. They leverage debt in a way that we can’t even begin to fathom.
It’s mad, but I can see the conundrum. How do you tax assets that aren’t worth anything until sold? Can you compel them to sell their assets to settle a tax bill? How do you go after rich folk who use loans to circumvent generating income through the sale of their assets without also harming regular people who need to take out loans to buy things like cars and houses?
Rich people have gotten too good at playing the system and we seriously need to look at how we can fix things before it’s too late. Right now, the wealthy have unprecedented control over the government, but it’s still not an oligarchy yet. There’s still time, though. Someone out there has to have a solution.
How do you tax assets that aren’t worth anything until sold?
I have to pay property taxes on my home and car each year. These are assets that I’m not selling, yet I’m still being taxed on their value. It’s amazing that they’ve figured out a way to do it for the working class but not for the ruling class.
I agree with what you’re saying but I’m curious. You have to pay taxes on the value of your car? Do car registration fees scale with car value in your area?
Do car registration fees scale with car value in your area?
Kinda… it’s based on the age of the car and the original MSRP, so it isn’t exactly based on the car’s actual value, but an estimate of what the value might be.
Taxing the rich is great and all, but it still doesn’t solve the issue of gov spending being completely and utterly shit. We spend more on healthcare per individual than any other nation on the planet. We don’t even need to tax the rich right now and we could have single payer. The idea that taxing the rich is needed to pay for services and safety nets is silly. We’re the wealthiest nation on the planet, we can already afford all of the things our citizens need, we just have a gov who doesn’t know how to properly spend the money it already has.
there should be a 100% tax for anyone who has a billion dollars or more.
That level of wealth is not compatible with existing in a society.
I think the biggest problem isn’t the tax rate, but the fact that the billionaire class can circumvent the tax system entirely.
Own billions of dollars in stock, don’t ever sell any, don’t pay any taxes on that growth. Maybe some dividends get taxed or something.
Need pocket money though. Take out a loan for $100 million using a little bit of your stock as collateral. You don’t get taxed on taking out debt.
People don’t realize that billionaires don’t have their billions sitting in a bank account somewhere like you or I might have our own life savings tucked away in a savings account. That would be foolish of them, obviously, the FDIC won’t insure them past a certain point, so a bank failure could cause them to lose everything.
Every single billionaire is only a billionaire “on paper”. It’s the sum total of all their assets, both liquid and non-liquid (like stocks, but also properties, etc.). They leverage their assets as collateral for a loan, and then use that loan to buy the stuff they want or just use it to make more investments. They leverage debt in a way that we can’t even begin to fathom.
It’s mad, but I can see the conundrum. How do you tax assets that aren’t worth anything until sold? Can you compel them to sell their assets to settle a tax bill? How do you go after rich folk who use loans to circumvent generating income through the sale of their assets without also harming regular people who need to take out loans to buy things like cars and houses?
Rich people have gotten too good at playing the system and we seriously need to look at how we can fix things before it’s too late. Right now, the wealthy have unprecedented control over the government, but it’s still not an oligarchy yet. There’s still time, though. Someone out there has to have a solution.
I have to pay property taxes on my home and car each year. These are assets that I’m not selling, yet I’m still being taxed on their value. It’s amazing that they’ve figured out a way to do it for the working class but not for the ruling class.
I agree with what you’re saying but I’m curious. You have to pay taxes on the value of your car? Do car registration fees scale with car value in your area?
Kinda… it’s based on the age of the car and the original MSRP, so it isn’t exactly based on the car’s actual value, but an estimate of what the value might be.
https://www.in.gov/bmv/fees-taxes/vehicle-registration-fees-and-taxes/excise-tax-information/#Passenger_Vehicle_Excise_Tax_Fees
Taxing the rich is great and all, but it still doesn’t solve the issue of gov spending being completely and utterly shit. We spend more on healthcare per individual than any other nation on the planet. We don’t even need to tax the rich right now and we could have single payer. The idea that taxing the rich is needed to pay for services and safety nets is silly. We’re the wealthiest nation on the planet, we can already afford all of the things our citizens need, we just have a gov who doesn’t know how to properly spend the money it already has.
Oh, its you again.
Showing up yet again to reply to imaginary comments instead of the topic at hand.
Way to contribute just like last time…
Such a boomer reply.
Lol yes because someone else has a different take than you on your dumbass comment must be a boomer ok kid
Raising tax revenue and funding some variation of single payer health care or socialised medicine are not mutually exclusive.
Cool, where did I say they were?