Comment by SoftTalker
3 hours ago
IDK what Bezos made as "income" last year but paper gains in asset values are not "income" for tax purposes, though some people might look at the increase in his wealth and call that money he "made" that year. But we don't have a wealth tax on a federal level at least.
Oh, then Bezos must be living a humble, middle-class life with very limited liquidation of his assets.
Surely, he’s not using loans, write-offs, and legal tricks to fund a Great Gatsby lifestyle while pretending to have no actual income?
Right?
> some people might look at the increase in his wealth and call that money he "made" that year
What in gods name would you call that otherwise?
> But we don't have a wealth tax on a federal level at least
And that somehow justifies rich people paying less taxes, because they navigate the system better than regular people?
He pays income tax just like everyone else. But the majority of his money is in investments, which many Americans already do as well with 401k and personal brokerage accounts. The people who can't afford to invest like that already pay close to 0% income tax as 40%-60% of households, historically, have paid 0% income tax in the US.
> He pays income tax just like everyone else.
He only paid income taxes on $80k while at Amazon.
The wealthy often make their money as capital gains, which if they held for at least one year, are exempt from the income tax and taxed at no higher than 20%
Billionaires literally have their own set of tax brackets in this country: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409
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They still pay payroll taxes, among others, which disproportionately affect poor people.
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Let's say you own your home and it increased in value last year. Do you feel like you "made" any money from that? Unless you sold it, probably not.
Only because I live it in and can't easily sell it to raise cash.
Let's say you own some stock and it increased in value last year. Do you feel like you "made" any money from that? I did and it did and I do.
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