Market won't just decrease. It will collapse. Even the remaining investors would pull out. What world are you living in that you think the market would resemble anything it used to if 60% of workers took their money out?
The metric of success in your claim is that the market would be a near total collapse but not be entirely wiped out down to zero dollars collapse.
Facts are on display.
You can package "equality and diversity" anyway you like. It always ends up sowing the seeds of hate. For example, do you think women like to hear that they are earning only 77 cents to a dollar for men? Do you think that makes them happy?
Next thing you are going to tell us that the violent rhetoric of the left for the last decade had nothing at all to with people trying to assassinate others.
By the IRS, billionaires pay a lot of tax.
Go ahead and say it. You want MORE. Greedy liberals....
your 3.5% on Elon made me wonder, what are you using as income when use use that number? He has income, then deductions/credits and then pays the taxable rate....I'd like to know his secret....or are you using a number other than taxable income?
OK, I understand..part of the problem with these tax debates is that we all seem to use a different definition of income. I was assuming the 3.5% tax you used was based on Musks declared income. But that's not the case..thanks for the response.
FALSE!
When these are sold, they’re often taxed as long-term capital gains (0–20%), which is much lower than top wage tax rates. Result: They can optimize timing to reduce effective tax rate. This is a major driver of low “effective” tax rates. This reduces taxable income significantly. Their economic gains may be huge, but taxable income stays relatively low.How they earn income is different from typical wage earners. The U.S. tax system treats different types of income differently, and that’s where the gap comes from.
Here are the main reasons:
1) Income Type: Capital Gains vs. Salary
- Most regular people:
Income is primarily wages → taxed as ordinary income (up to 37% federal).- CEOs / executives:
A large portion of income comes from:
- Stock grants
- Stock options
- Investments
2) Stock Compensation Timing
CEOs often get paid in stock (RSUs, options), which allows them to control when taxes are triggered.
- They can:
- Delay selling shares → defer taxes
- Hold for >1 year → qualify for lower capital gains rate
3) Use of Borrowing Instead of Selling (Buy–Borrow–Die Strategy)
Wealthy executives often:
Example:
- Keep their stock (avoid selling → no tax event)
- Borrow against it for cash (loans are not taxable)
- $50M in stock
- Borrow $5M against it
- Pay 0 income tax on that $5M
4) Tax Deductions and Loss Offsetting
High-income individuals can offset gains with:
- Capital losses
- Business deductions
- Charitable contributions
- Depreciation (for real estate holdings)
5) Deferred Compensation Plans
Many CEOs use structured compensation arrangements:
- Income is paid out later, sometimes in retirement
- Helps shift income into lower-tax years
6) Effective Tax Rate vs. Marginal Rate
When people say CEOs pay lower rates, they’re usually referring to:
Because:
- Effective tax rate = total tax paid / total economic income
- Wealth growth (stock appreciation) isn’t taxed until realized
- Borrowing isn’t taxed at all
You shouldn't cut and paste things you don't understand just to confirm your bias. It puts you at risk of looking foolish.How they earn income is different from typical wage earners. The U.S. tax system treats different types of income differently, and that’s where the gap comes from.
Here are the main reasons:
1) Income Type: Capital Gains vs. Salary
- Most regular people:
Income is primarily wages → taxed as ordinary income (up to 37% federal).- CEOs / executives:
A large portion of income comes from:
- Stock grants
- Stock options
- Investments
2) Stock Compensation Timing
CEOs often get paid in stock (RSUs, options), which allows them to control when taxes are triggered.
- They can:
- Delay selling shares → defer taxes
- Hold for >1 year → qualify for lower capital gains rate
3) Use of Borrowing Instead of Selling (Buy–Borrow–Die Strategy)
Wealthy executives often:
Example:
- Keep their stock (avoid selling → no tax event)
- Borrow against it for cash (loans are not taxable)
- $50M in stock
- Borrow $5M against it
- Pay 0 income tax on that $5M
4) Tax Deductions and Loss Offsetting
High-income individuals can offset gains with:
- Capital losses
- Business deductions
- Charitable contributions
- Depreciation (for real estate holdings)
5) Deferred Compensation Plans
Many CEOs use structured compensation arrangements:
- Income is paid out later, sometimes in retirement
- Helps shift income into lower-tax years
6) Effective Tax Rate vs. Marginal Rate
When people say CEOs pay lower rates, they’re usually referring to:
Because:
- Effective tax rate = total tax paid / total economic income
- Wealth growth (stock appreciation) isn’t taxed until realized
- Borrowing isn’t taxed at all
And state tax. In SC you will pay another 3-4% on your LTCG. So probably 27% total
Don't you love it when poor people like Knox waste their energy defending lower taxes for the uber wealthy? If he had put as much effort into his education and jobs. he wouldn't be the struggling sap he is today.
The thing is I don't have a problem with people proposing the rich pay a little more. In fact I think it's necessary if we hope to reduce the deficit. The problem is you can't have an intelligent discussion when people keep making false claims.
The Wall Street bankers that people love to hate pay 23.8% federal, +10.9% state + 3.9% city (38.6% total) on capital gains. They pay 51.8% on ordinary income.
that's only part of the debate though. If I'm correct, the major complaint is that we're not taxing the wealth of the billionaires. It is pointed out often that billionaires (some of them at least) don't take normal salaries, but get their "income" from non traditional means that are either not included as ordinary income or is taxed at lower than normal tax schedule rates ---the most used example, is borrowing against assets. In reality, they have a point, but that's not a tax issue...if someone doesn't take a salary, under our system, they don't pay a tax on that non income (obviously) but the do pay capital gains tax and would pay taxes on any interest or dividends earned.
My issue on this board is that people make false claims like stock grants aren't taxed or that the rich only pay 15% capital gains rate. Those claims are simply false.
I agree with you on the unearned capital gains tax..if they do that for billionaires, the rest of us will not be far behind.
