Yakuda
Verified User
Not if he wins
Billionaires abound in California. Why not tax their wealth?
- Thread starter Hume
- Start date
The number of rich people in California keeps rising, even as some leave. The fact is California mints billionaires, and other states are where they flee when they get too lazy.
Stafford income was $2.2 million, not his Australian taxes. He paid $960k, not $2.2 million, in Australian taxes. $814k is actually an accurate beginning number, before you include the foreign tax credits dropping down the taxes to basically zero. The California taxes do not include a foreign tax credit.
We could see the math did not work out from the beginning: $2.2m + $814k + $293k equals $3.307m not $1.25m. Now $960k + $293k = $1.253m which is basically $1.25m. $2.2m - $1.253m = $947k.
Obviously his unearned income is millions more and lightly taxed.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
True then. True now. You cannot tax your way out of debt.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
8 of 214 billionaires in California have left. My bet is the rest have already done their homework and put their money where the state can't tax it and that their "wealth tax" will be a bust complete with multiple lawsuits. California can't tax money or assets of someone that are not in California and not subject to that state's laws. If California tried that, it would run afoul of federal law.
Let them leave California.
And 12 more were created to replace them.
I am personally against wealth taxes, but California is not running out of billionaires at the current rate.
I am in favor of it. The only way to fight back against the oligarchy.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
They are running out of money however, and eating the rich is not going to fix that.
The rich ate us.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
No, they didn't. Who did they rob to get rich? They don't take piles of people's money and not make a nickel's worth of profit off it. That's the government.
They change the tax law so their wealth is not taxed.
It should definitely be debated. The "buy, borrow, die" strategy is allowing some very rich people to pay no taxes.
And yet they are making more money than ever before. Maybe if the AI bubble bursts(assuming it is a bubble) they will run out of new money, but the rest of the country will be in worse shape.
A lot of the wealth is because of lower taxes on capital gains.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
The rich pay far more in taxes than any other group.
The top 1% of earners across the U.S. earn an average of 19.5% of all income – sometimes garnering criticism from pundits and politicians – but pay 37% of total income taxes.
What the Top 1% Pays in Taxes Across the U.S. – 2025 Study
SmartAsset examined the latest IRS data to determine where the top 1% of earners contribute the most – and least – in taxes.
smartasset.com
Current IRS percentile data for tax year 2023 shows that the top 1% of tax returns paid 38.4% of all federal individual income taxes. That group included about 1.53 million returns, with adjusted gross income of at least $675,602.
Who Pays the Most Taxes in America? Breakdown by Income Level [2026 Update] - North American Community Hub
IRS data shows who pays the most federal income taxes in America, and how the top 1 percent compares with the bottom half.
nchstats.com
Who Pays Income Taxes?
(PDF) updated April 2026 In 2025, Congress locked in key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Yet, debates over the tax code rage on. Calls for new wealth taxes and higher rates on top earners have intensified, as the federal government continues to...
www.ntu.org
The top 1% represents the highest earners in the country, and their contribution is significant:
- They earn about 20.6% of total income
- They pay approximately 38.4% of all federal income taxes
Who’s Really Paying Federal Income Taxes? A Clear Look at the Top 1% and Top 5% | Stordahl Capital Management
The higher you earn, the more the system relies on you. Here’s why the top 5% should be thinking differently about taxes.
www.stordahlcap.com
I would certainly agree with raising capital gains taxes. There is a chance that with AI less and less money will be made from earned income, and more and more will be made from unearned/capital gains income. Then it looks crazier and crazier to expect earned income to keep the government affloat.
Even that does not get around "buy, borrow, die." Basically, if you borrow your income, it does not count as income for taxes, but rather a loan. If you use your business income to pay those debts, it is tax deductible. When you die, the capital value gets reset when it comes to gains. It is not as easy as it sounds, but done right no one ever pays taxes on those capital gains.
A wealth tax is a solution to that problem, but I prefer just tightening the tax laws. A wealth tax forces people to sell based on increases in value that they have not received.
Then again, property tax is a wealth tax, and it has been around since the beginning of the USA.
T. A. Gardner
Serial Thread Killer
Actually, a lot of their wealth is unrealized gains on things like capital. That is, they have a pile of stock that is worth far more than they paid for it. That isn't profit. That is unrealized profit. Until they sell it and take the cash, it is wealth only on an accounting spreadsheet, not in reality.
The basis of capitalism is to not tax capital.
