this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2026
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And monitored it should be.
Once a person has enough wealth that affects, say, more than 50 "unaffiliated" (non-family member/dependant/immediate circle, not including employees) people's lives, their finances should be as transparent as aquarium glass.
Don't complicate stuff, just treat wealth like income. In fact let's change income tax to income and wealth tax. Same department, same operations.
That would backfire considerably for the average people...
It would not.
"Wealth" on Dec 31 minus "Wealth" on Jan 1 at the start of that same year = Total Change = Income.
The average person, doesn't change wealth that much and a graduated tax system would compensate just fine for that tiny change in wealth.
On the other hand when a billionaire gains 45 billion dollars in wealth/worth over the course of the year, now you can tax them for 45 billion in income.
"Oh but it's all fake stock money" and "they would have to sell stocks." Oh no! Bug whoopie shit. Let them spread that around instead of hoarding it all, that is the point.
Because that formula would TOTALLY not be played especially when most wealth these fuckers have is stocks.
Simply crash the market every Christmas, and you got your infinite money loop by having massive wealth during the year and reducing it for when the taxman cometh.
I mean imagine if that was the basis of income tax... you could get your salary on the 28th, come 1st, tax time, so you spend 2/3 of your salary, pay taxes on the remaining 33%, then return everything you bought by the 3rd.
At the very least a daily monitor of wealth needed and IMO taxing highest achieved wealth Vs lowest held wealth is the tax application base, not just arbitrary numbers taken at the end of the year.
Why? Average people haven't hoarded sufficient wealth for taxing, so what's the backfire
You didn't specify that you wanted to tqx wealth above a given level... You just stated you want to roll income and wealth tax into one. That would apply to everyone...
Alrighty, here goes -
Taxes on annual income -
0 upto 1st quartile of the distribution
5% on part 1st quartile to median
10% on part median to 90%ile
20% on part 90%ile to 99%ile
40% on part 99%ile up
Taxes each year on wealth -
0 upto 50M USD
1% on part 50M to 100M USD
2% on part 100M to 200M USD
3% on part 200M to 400M USD
4% on part 400M to 800M USD
5% on part 800M to 1.6B USD
6%... Keep going, you get the pattern
Up to 50 million at 0%? That leaves most of the wealth in the country untaxed.
Wealth tax should start at about 5 million, indexed to median income. It should get pretty heavy before 100 million. Otherwise what's the point? The billionaires as a class don't own shit, there aren't that many of them. Millionaires (mostly baby boomers) own everything.
Somewhere between 10M and 100M, you get infinitely wealthy - which is what I call when you and your descendants can have a comfortable lifestyle from low risk bonds forever. I want the wealth tax to be the tool to remove such a situation.
It's an example, personally, I think anything over 10 million should be taxed at 100%
how would you define "affects people's lives"? because hiring a yard work company and replacing your roof could potentially be contracting 50 people (it shouldn't be more than 30 but I've seen the exact Mexican immigrants Trump probably hates working as a family in roofing where the entire family does the job all at once)