- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/2125276
According to a summary of the bill released by the Patriotic Millionaires—an advocacy group that helped craft the measure—the wealth tax would have four brackets:
- 2% for all wealth between 1,000 and 10,000 times median household wealth;
- 4% for all wealth between 10,000 and 100,000 times median household wealth;
- 6% for all wealth between 100,000 and 1,000,000 times median household wealth; and
- 8% for all wealth over 1,000,000 times median household wealth;
"In the unlikely event median household wealth fell below $50,000 from its current level of about $120,000, the thresholds would be fixed at $50 million, $500 million, $5 billion, and $50 billion respectively.”
The legislation would also require at least a 30% IRS audit rate on households affected by the new wealth tax.
The only time we really do taxes currently is when money changes hands, and the only time total estate wealth needs to be calculated right now is at death.
So isn’t the easy win to just jack up the inheritance tax? Make it 75% of all wealth greater than 10,000x the median household wealth or something.
The reason that isn’t happening when it’s way easier to implement systematically and constitutionally, is exactly why this won’t happen. Republicans hate wealth taxes and the truly wealthy will just hide their wealth offshore or in tax-sheltered instruments if the taxes get too high.
Fun fact: this is illegal, which is why properly funding the IRS is an absolutely necessary part of any new tax bill of any kind.
Just a fun fact, not a problem. There are legal ways to shelter wealth or income from taxes. There are illegal ways to do the same. Wealthy people may use either or both.