Well, see, Americans are "temporarily embarrassed billionaires". We all believe that we can be that wealthy, while not realizing that the system is created and maintained by the wealthy to keep themselves that way and ensure that only a few can be so. We also think people with a lot of money also have a lot of intelligence and relevance and important things to say, so we defer to them whenever possible.
Its called Buy, Borrow, Die. I found out about it only a couple of weeks ago. This has been going on for over a hundred years. Furthermore, banks actually solicit a variety if products in this regard to the wealthy for decades now.
Goal is to minimize your income. Since I'm just a regular average Joe Blow who's not rich I don't have enough to do this but do try to minimize my taxable income though. Its not that hard, contemporary tax software can help you as well.
Accurate. There's a multitude of ways they hide their wealth. The game changed with Reagan and the writing was on the wall then. And that it coincided with the Christian Conservative movement, and co-opting "patriotism," wasn't an accident. They manufactured culture wars to divide because they knew that a unified populous would put an end to the strategy.
If there was ONE issue in this country that should bring Americans together, irrespective of party, it's wealth disparity. But nope. The hooks are in too deep. It's "Us vs. Them" but the "us" is fighting the wrong enemy.People have been systematically brainwashed to kiss the hand that beats them.
It's when I'm most reminded that more than 50% of Americans read below a 6th grade level.
This is why I see America is kind of being an ethnostate, but instead of a race or ethnicity in a trad sense, the race that the system protects is rich people. Rich people are treated like a race in that it's something you're born into. If you're born rich, you inherit property, and then no matter how much money you lose during your life, you can always get billions in subsidies by leveraging your property.
I do disagree that billionaires don't pay any taxes, but they do have laws and loopholes that allow them to pay much less than they should.
The loans have to be paid back. You left that out. Most places also have inheirtance/estate taxes. You left that out too. Oh, yes, and their income was taxed in the first place.
@Heartlander I don't slavishly trust the government class. But most of the bad behavior perpetrated by government is done at the behest of the rich neighbors.
If you get rid of the influence of the rich people, the government is more likely to enact popular policy as people scramble to keep their jobs. There will still be bad actors and you need to make sure the government stays in its lane.
If you get rid of the influence of the government, the rich people are more likely to consume and claim every resource they can like a swarm of locusts descending upon a field. People don't get wealthy through kindness or hard work. They get wealthy by extracting as much as they can for themselves while providing as little as possible to others. Or through inheriting the fruits of that exploitation performed by their ancestors.
In the system we've got now, that's all mostly true - and unsustainable if you want to keep a really free and stable society.
But point that out or suggest reform, and you'll have every so-called "conservative" maggot on the web crawling out of the woodwork to scream about far left socialism.
So what we get instead is more government/corporate intrusion and control, enforced against average working people - whose political power & ability to push back shrinks as their real incomes decline.
Oh the wealthier you are the more loopholes there are to bury your tax burden.
For example why own a business with your name on the company register ? You simply create a figment of your imagination. Ensure they have 'responsibility', list yourself as a 'Consultant' who, as it happens, receives no 'salary' as such but magically has an endless line of credit everywhere as you can prove to creditors you own the assets of it.
Then you just rob 'Peter to pay Paul' each month, ensuring you pay the interest accrued without touching the assets until you can right them off without attracting attention from the tax office.
@Heartlander The OP is about individuals who exploit corporate tax arrangements to shelter their personal wealth from the taxes that most of the rest of us pay.
@SunshineGirl They shelter their wealth by buying tax-free municipal revenue bonds. In doing so they finance our infrastructure. IRBs pay a lower interest than other secure investments, so they only appeal to wealthy people and corporations who would otherwise be paying taxes at the maximum rates.
Do the math ...
For someone in the 37% tax bracket ...
A tax-free IRB that pays 4% is a better investment than a fully taxed 5% investment elsewhere.
And for the American people, considering that without those tax-free IRBs, Mr. Billionaire could instead be investing in Swiss bonds, leaving "poor" Americans with the added burden of having to pay for that bridge.
Bank deposits for an individual are only insured by the FDIC to $250,000 total per bank. A low end billionaire wanting to protect his/her wealth would then need such max deposits in 4,000 different banks. High end billionaires would need such deposits in 400,000 bank,
Once much beyond just being a millionaire you are pretty much on your own with protecting your wealth.
This is half true. But they buy all those assets with earnings that they have already paid tax on once, the art and the boats and the real estate do not fall from the sky.
@justbob Dude you’re moving the goalposts. My point was about billionaires and unrealized gains like how they can borrow against Tesla shares, art, or real estate and defer capital gains tax. Now you’re talking about refundable credits and low-income households paying nothing?? That’s a totally different debate.
Yes, refundable credits exist and some households get more back than they paid in federal income tax. That’s policy design, not proof billionaires pay their fair share.
Now you're mentioning Bernie? You’re using him as a stand-in for all proposals onrealized wealth, instead of addressing how the current tax code actually treats ultra-rich asset growth??
@Waveney The way the current tax code teats unrealized growth is not a problem. The problem would be the absurdly heavy burden of tracking the increases and decreases in asset value from year to year.
It would not only be impractical it would create bizarre eddies in the income stream of the Treasury. If Mr. Musk's stock value goes down and he claims refunds of hundreds of millions of dollars what does that do to the budget?
Do people have to get each piece of real estate appraised each year? I hope hey don't hire the guy who valued Trump's place as worth less than a vacant lot back when they were accusing him of bank fraud!
It is just not workable. It is a very silly idea. I mention Bernie because he is almost the only serious politician who advocates it.
@Waveney It looks to me you'll be stuck in complacency forever kid. Stop your whining and make something of yourself. Super weathly people don't magically become that way...they create value that earns them their wealth. So create something of value yourself and stop being the whiney little kid pouting in the corner. Have some self respect, rise up and be a man. 🙄
The voters prefer a dead world that's owned by certain people. They're going to kill us all in nuclear war because we didn't submit. Murkan working class voters. It's not an accident.
