Wealth Cap?

@earl-of-trumps said
@Phranny - said
"In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011.


For the love of krist, Phranny, do you know the difference between wealth (already acquired assets) and INCOME?

Get WOKE, you socialist baboon.

@no1marauder said
I realize most right wingers are incredibly ignorant of economics, so your answer doesn't surprise me.

But its ECO 101 that if one firm is able to command a substantial enough of the market so that others are discouraged from entering it, prices will invariably rise. And economic barriers to entry which block small businesses from being opened and/or being successful o ...[text shortened]...
This is an inevitable feature of unregulated capitalism which is why that system invariably fails.

@no1marauder said
Your ignorance is noted. If a million small businesses are forced out of business because of Amazon, how many jobs are created?

Right wingers are too ideologically blind to see the whole picture.

@phranny said
"Consider Bezos' 2007, one of the years he paid zero in federal income taxes. Amazon's stock more than doubled. Bezos' fortune leapt $3.8 billion, according to Forbes, whose wealth estimates are widely cited."
How the IRS defines an increase in wealth is a matter of tax law. The fact is, Bezos's made $3.8 billion in 2007 yet paid zero in federal taxes. Tax law is not God's l ...[text shortened]... hink corporations and corporate law and tax codes actually benefit the bottom 90% of the population.

@Phranny
I do believe your misleading source is actually a Lying Liberal rag. Why don't you give us the source? Afraid??

@earl-of-trumps said
You are without doubt, one of the most OBTUSE individuals posting in this thread. Dense!

If my home goes up in value by $100K in one year, do you honestly think I have to pay INCOME tax on that?

Again, you show a true display of ignorance by not knowing what INCOME is. It is cash taken in, not a rise in value of assets.

Do you really think Bezos broke the law? ...[text shortened]... o tell the liberal politicians to plug he loopholes. Jeeeezus, phranny, you are as numb as Novocain.

@jimmac said
In Australia, tax is due on "realized" capital gains. What would some here believe should happen in the event that Bezos capital drops 3.8B one year. In Aus, capital loses can only be claimed against future gains, "if" you have them.

@earl-of-trumps said
Interesting.

In America, if you buy a home for $100K and 30 years later, sell it for $400K, you will get assessed
a capital gains tax on the $300K "profit", but never as income tax. These leaping liberals are so full of boongaza beans.

@jimmac said
Family home is exempt of "any" capital assessments. Tax only applies to "investments". At least that is my belief.

@jimmac

you might be right. Let's see what the lawyer says.

EDIT TO ADD: Thanks, @Eladar. Just saw yours.

@Earl-of-Trumps
Bezos did not break the law.
"Even on the income the superwealthy do claim, often in the form of capital gains, they often pay a lower rate than Americans who make far less money.
How is this possible? The report analyzes how this is possible, and the reasons are many. First, US tax law is focused on income and much of the superwealth is tied up in company stock or other investments that have real value but aren't taxable year to year.
Wealth vs. income. ProPublica cites guesstimates from Forbes, but it's an imperfect assessment. It lists Bezos as gaining $99 billion in wealth between 2014 and 2018. But his income was much lower -- he reported $4.22 billion and paid $973 million in income tax in those years. So he paid more than 20% on his reported income. The issue is that his wealth skyrocketed at the same time. This is something that plays out on a smaller scale for your average American homeowner or 401(k) holder, whose wealth grows without being taxed by the federal government every year. The difference is in scale. Also, everyday Americans likely pay property taxes and utilized mortgages to buy their homes."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/politics/what-matters-income-taxes/index.html

Democrats have proposed ways of taxing the growth in investments of those with many millions of dollars. None of these proposals would increase taxes for those with less than 10 million. Some of the proposals are for those with far more than 10 million.
Again, you are displaying your ignorance. So sad.

@Earl-of-Trumps
I did give you the source. Here it is again. You might not like Propublica but all the major newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, have covered this report. The information is accurate.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

@Phranny - said
This is something that plays out on a smaller scale for your average American homeowner or 401(k) holder, whose wealth grows without being taxed by the federal government every year.
--------

So your own CNN link sinks your whole thrust - that being, that Bezos did not pay income tax in years
that his net worth increased, **as if** he committed a crime or some slick maneuvering. The Truth comes out here,
HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO PAY INCOME TAX ON THAT INCREASE IN VALUE.

That is as I told you, Phranny. Your little-boy-that-cried-wolf approach is all bluster and no substance.

Propublica, another liberal source. Why am i not shocked?

@eladar said
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/capitalgainhomesale.asp

Evidently, if you have owned and lived in this house as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years, the sale is tax exempt.

@Earl-of-Trumps I clearly stated Bezos and other super rich individuals who paid little or no federal income tax acted within the law. What they did was totally legal. That simply means our tax system is unfairly skewed towards letting the super rich grow their wealth while the struggling and declining middle class pay taxes. The tax code needs to be revamped.
Trickle Down Economics is actually Golden Showers Economics. Businesses expand and hire when people have money to purchase their goods and services. This requires a growing middle class. The middle class in the U.S. has been in steady decline since the mid 1980's, over three decades. The jobs created most recently were low paying, low skilled and did not enable individuals to have much in the way of expendable income. The U.S. economy is based on people purchasing future land fill (goods) and services. The wealthiest in the U.S. are growing richer. The middle class is in decline.
I realize this site is a tiny microcosm of the U.S. but it is very disheartening to see the lack of a basic understanding of economics, U.S. history and the Constitution on the part of some who visit this forum.
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2017/04/24/the-middle-class-is-large-in-many-western-european-countries-but-it-is-losing-ground-in-places/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-class_squeeze#:~:text=The%20middle%20class%20was%20defined,1970%20to%2058.2%25%20in%201985.