This is such a terrible take… For those that read the article he says that it’s fine the way it is because the elite rich pay more money into taxes than the working class… Like no shit thats basic math. We’re asking for them to pay an EQUAL share as we do.
If you have a dude who makes $10,000 and is taxed at 1% pays $100 into taxes
And another guy makes $100 but is taxed at 10% and pays $10 into taxes
Is that fair just cause the first dude 'paid more money?? Fuck no it’s not.
Not to mention the fact that a lot of rich folks can use tax loopholes to pay even less in taxes then the average person. Which is massively fucked up
But I think we focus on the wrong loopholes. The ability to accrue capital gains forever and not pay taxes on it, then die and let your heirs take advantage of a basis step-up is fucked up. Maybe if your net worth exceeds a certain amount then you should have to mark-to-market annually and pay taxes as if you sold and rebought at the market price.
I think the problem is that most of us define “rich” by the accumulation of wealth, but for tax purposes it’s usually defined as annualized earned income. Many billionaires pull no salary, and manage to defer capital gains so effectively pay very little tax.
They also simply don’t pay taxes. Tax cheats cost the US roughly a trillion dollars every year, and almost all of it is attributed to the top 5%. If you’re wealthy enough to hide your earnings, you are also wealthy enough to fight the IRS and make it too expensive to recover. It’s cheaper to buy politicians who defund the IRS than it is to pay your fair share.
I agree everyone should pay 15% of their total income in taxes. Then it’s completely fair and equal.
Except there are people who don’t need to have any income for the rest of their lives, could just break even or lose a little, because the wealth they already have is so huge. That doesn’t feel completely fair and equal.
