Billionaires pay a lower tax rate than the rest of America's taxpayers, new study finds
www.cbsnews.com
The wealthiest 400 people in the U.S. pay a tax rate of 24%, lower than the average rate for all other taxpayers, economists find.
  • rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    4·
    4 months ago

    Pretty much. Most high wealth people’s net worth is heavily made up of stocks. You don’t pay tax on stock and don’t pay tax when the price goes up. But you can use it to leverage a loan. You can leverage a million dollar loan against your stock and pay no tax on your million dollars. Then your stock goes up and you go to the bank and borrow more against the same stock because it’s worth more.

  • pinheadednightmare@lemmy.worldEnglish
    210·
    4 months ago

    If we are going to continue paying taxes, we need a flat tax. No loopholes or anything, everyone pays the same flat tax.

    • iceonfire1@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      If this was implemented it would reduce billionaires’ effective tax rate from ~24% to near 0%. Is that what you want?

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
      141·
      4 months ago

      Nah. Fuck that.

      The wealthy pay more.

      We used to tax the fuck out of the wealthy and surprise surprise, that time period was what is generally considered America’s golden age when the middle class was the strongest it’s ever been.

      • DireTech@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        4 months ago

        Always weird when people idolize that period. Americas golden age was when most of the world’s manufacturing was destroyed by war.

  • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    4 months ago

    But they use that savings to create jobs! Don’t you like the feeling of that warm, golden liquid trickling down your face?

    /s in case it wasn’t obvious.

  • Juice@midwest.socialEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    Study finds thing studies already found, “someone should do something but they’re rigging the system,” says foreign alien economist who hates freedom and is French so you know what those guys would be doing if the US hadn’t bailed their froggy asses out of WW2 amirite? Anyway clearly a communist, and we respect dissenting views here in the greatest country in the world but also we don’t tolerate terrorist hate speech or European haircuts, as outlined in the latest executive order called, “The all good things, freedom and safety act,” which identifies communists and other “lizard folk” as being a threat to children therefore we have no choice but to empower the DHS to deputize and arm edgy teenagers to march these hardened criminal, um economics professors, to a rehabilitation center nicknamed “planet death” where they will produce made in america plushies to compete with the threat of Chinese communist labubus that are a threat to democracy and pretty sure is a form of satanic witchcraft

    • ExtremeDullard@piefed.socialEnglish
      141·
      4 months ago

      You don’t become a billionaire by playing by the rules.

      Actually you’re wrong about that.

      These guys do play by the rule: they obey the law to a tee. But… they obey the LETTER of the law, not the spirit. That’s why nobody can’t stop them and throw them in the slammer for tax evasion.

      What you need to be a billionaire is to be psychopathic enough to think you’re the only person whose interests matter, and have enough money to pay for equally psychopathic tax lawyers to establish some legal constructs for you that enable you to pay almost zero taxes legally. Once you’re rich enough to pay the lawyers, you get exponentially richer.

      It’s legal, but they’re still psychopathic sonsabitches.