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NEW TAX STIPULATION DROPPED

What Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett And Other Billionaires Will Have To Pay Under Biden's New Proposed Tax Plan

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What Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett And Other Billionaires Will Have To Pay Under Biden's New Proposed Tax Plan
Joe Biden's new tax proposal affects households that make upwards of $100 million per year. Here's what it means for America's richest billionaires.
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Under Biden's new proposal, households that earn more than $100 million will have to pay a 20 percent tax rate on their income and unrealized gains from liquid assets (like bonds and stocks). The bill will be scrutinized in Congress before it passes, and if it does could have enormous consequences for some of the richest Americans, reports Quartz.

Gabriel Zucman, as associate professor of economics at UC Berkeley, used data from Bloomberg's billionaire index to estimate the amount of tax people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others would end up having to pay. Here's what he found.


Tax Owed By Billionaires Under The White House Plan

(Twenty percent tax on unrealized gains, payable in nine years)

Billionaire Wealth / Wealth In Stocks Estimated Taxable Gains Tax Owed
Elon Musk $256B / $250B $250 billion $50 billion
Jeff Bezos $190B / $174B $174 billion $35 billion
Bill Gates $133B / $76B $54 billion $11 billion
Warren Buffett $130B / $129B $129 billion $26 billion
Larry Page $126B / $111B $111 billion $22 billion
Sergey Brin $120B / $105B $105 billion $21 billion
Steve Ballmer $106B / $100B $50 billion $10 billion
Larry Ellison $102B / $84B $84 billion $17 billion
Mark Zuckerberg $84B / $81B $81 billion $16 billion
Jim Walton $65B / $49B $36 billion $7 billion


H/T: Quartz

[Image courtesty Daniel Oberhaus (2018)]

Comments

  1. Robert Foutch 2 years ago

    Look at history and Democrats usually take power after Republicans ruin the economy. Democrats fix it the best they can. It seems to mean no matter what Democrats do Republicans are against it. If a republican does something stupid like sexual explicit things nothing happens. If a Democrat does the same, they are held accountable and should be. The Republicans should be held accountable but seldom ever happens. Look at history the billionaires get more government assistance than anyone. Billionaires are the first to complain about helping the less fortunate. BILLIONAIRES NEED TO PAY FAIR SHARE TAX!!

  2. Robert Foutch 2 years ago

    It's time for the rich to sacrifice some toys and pay a fair share. Lot of comments sounds like people have been brainwashed. The rich can pay some taxes. Maybe they might have to save up some money to pay fair share tax. They might have to wait before they get a new Yacht. I think it will be easier on them than it will be on poor people buying a home. It's expensive to be poor. The wealthy had a chance with the trickle down theory. I don't remember getting any trickle down cash in my account. Greed isn't good for anyone.

  3. Blanche Miller 2 years ago

    Stupid democraps! Billionaires do NOT have billions of dollars sitting under their mattresses - it's mostly invested. When they get the HUGE tax bill, they'll have to sell off a bunch of their investments! Then what happens? Everyone else sells off, too, because/and the investment crashes! And this "law" would eventually trickle down to EVERYONE with unrealized gains. Pay taxes on money you don't actually have? Democrats are fiscal MORONS!

  4. Brenda LaCroix 2 years ago

    This is a bad idea. BUT, if the Dems would use this bad idea to repay all the billions they've stolen from Social Security it might be a little easier to swallow. I, for one would like to see a higher return on what I've paid in. If the Dems doubled what they pay retirees imagine how many old people they could get off food stamps. It's pretty hard to be 70ish and live off $900 a month. (Not me, just saying)

    1. jerry c 2 years ago

      here are some facts Brenda
      https://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html

  5. That Guy 2 years ago

    More democrat incompetence… this bill will never pass in a million years. How do you tax u realized aka hypothetical gains?!?! Can i deduct hypothetical losses?!? Lol obviously not. What if you pay taxes and then the stock market tanks and you never see these hypothetical gains you paid tax on? The people are typical clueless democrats that have zero idea of how anything works while they beat on their chests to please thier cult members. Of course when the Republicans do the right thing and shoot this bill down the Democrats are going to do their usual and pretend that somehow they are the ones on the moral high ground in the GOP is racist for unknown reasons that can’t be explained blah blah blah

  6. Paul 2 years ago

    More cash for the military to protect the billionaires then!

  7. Ryan Obray 2 years ago

    It's funny to me that so many people sit around celebrating in their minds how seemingly wonderful it will be when we can stick it to the one percenters by making them pay a bunch of money in taxes or finally force them into "paying their fair share". You all realize this money will just go to the government where it'll just be wastefully spent anyway right? A lot of these people contribute to lives of individuals (if only even by employing them) in many more meaningful ways than the government can or will. Should they pay taxes? Yes. Are they bad for exercising the broken rules to avoid paying huge amounts? No, only a liar or overly jealous would say yes to that question. If our own government officials weren't benefiting from the same loopholes, they would have been closed long ago.

    1. David J. Weiner 2 years ago

      >You all realize this money will just go to the government where it'll just be wastefully spent anyway right?

      Wastefully spent? On what? Oh, that's right - it'll be spent on federal government jobs, infrastructure, or perhaps governmental contracts for companies that employ people. You do know that the federal government is the single largest employer in the US, right?

      But I suppose you'd prefer that all that money just sit, hoarded by a few hundred people in real estate and offshore accounts, instead of actually working for the American people.

      1. Ryan Obray 2 years ago

        Government jobs that could almost all be done better and more efficiently by the private industry (AKA companies run by these kinds of individuals). I've been there and done that.

        Have you taken the time to actually look at infrastructure spending bills and see how much is actually pork? If we'd stop with the nonsense and actually put tax money to where it should go, my sentiment would be different.

    2. Joseph Dadey 2 years ago

      >You all realize this money will just go to the government where it'll just be wastefully spent anyway right?

      Are you under the impression that money is going to good things now? That trickle down you think you're getting... it's just pee,

      1. Ryan Obray 2 years ago

        Yet most all of us still live more privileged lives than most anywhere else in the world in any other period of time in human history. Spend some time living in a third world country and then tell me how messed up trickle down economics is. You can spend your life being jealous of what others have made of theirs or you can fight to accomplish the same things they have. Clearly you've made your choice already.

    3. joeysan207 2 years ago

      Yeah your right Ryan, billionaires are far less wasteful with their money while they live like Jesus giving back and supporting their critical to their bottom line lowest paid workers. Their accountants totally don’t squeeze every cent out of workers, customers, vendors, partners, and the government every second of the day. So they can - I don’t know, shoot their ass off into space for a few minutes because they are bored with the mega yacht.

      1. Ryan Obray 2 years ago

        Maybe companies that are terrible to work for treat people that way. But there also in lies the beauty of capitalism. If I hate my job or the company I work for, I don't have to stay there.

        I'm not arguing that the lifestyle billionaires live isn't selfish or excessive. I'd hope people that rich were actively engaged in meaningful philanthropy but ultimately I have more respect for freedom than government oppression. Regardless, until our government can stop funding total nonsense, there's more to be gained in technological advancement developed through things like normalizing space travel than tossing it into a government dumpster fire.

    4. Tinus 2 years ago

      >You all realize this money will just go to the government where it'll just be wastefully spent anyway right?

      This is such a bullshit American take, I created an account specifically to comment on the fact that Americans like you are selfish billionaire wannabe knowitalls. Fellating your billionaires doesn't get you anywhere. You just look like a stupid middle aged white guy with a limited world view.

      Money trickling down from government policies benefits your society much more than money trickling down (if it does at all) from billionaires.

      If the USA doesn't invest seriously in infrastructure, healthcare and education your country will lose its position in the world. You're already looked down upon. You're outside the top 20 in most indexes and you'll be suffering from a brain drain because the people who have the option don't want to raise their kids in your country.

      1. Ryan Obray 2 years ago

        Congratulations on making an account explicitly to stroke your own ego. It must be nice being a young, woke guy living in an echo chamber of thought that's so tight you can't even handle reading an opinion that does resonate with you. I'm impressed that you had it in you to go through the rigor of creating an account just to illustrate your keyboard warrior prowess.

        Now, if you'd actually read more deeply into what I'm saying, you might notice that what I'm actually expressing is a distrust in how the U.S. government spends tax money. I completely agree that we need to invest heavily in infrastructure, healthcare and education. The problem is that whenever spending bills are presented, very little money as a whole is actually slated to be spent on the useful things. It's ALWAYS full of nonsense. Until that changes, it doesn't matter how much more money the government gets.

        Also, private industry is simply more efficient at accomplishing pretty much anything than the government is. Like it or not, having a bottom line to protect results in competition and innovation.

        As a "stupid, middle aged white man" (whatever my race has to do with my opinion), I've seen first hand, in my career in government contracting, how poorly tax money is used. Furthermore, I've live outside of the U.S. and have seen how much worse things could actually be. My opinion (albeit different from your) doesn't come from a place of ignorance.

        1. Gary Glissman 2 years ago

          Yeah, look how efficient the Big Pharma industry has been in generating drug profits for themselves at our expense. You cannot make blanket statements about private business or government programs. Some are quite good but others are built to rape and pillage the consumer. Look what we pay for drugs in this country and the companies continue buying off Congress to make sure the status quo stays in place. Same with the pressure to keep competition laws handcuffed. Capitalism requires close government regulation or it simply becomes out of control and ignores the principles of how it should work. Yes, I would like to see more accountability with government spending but I sure would not give all the controls to private industry. Big mistake.

          1. Ryan Obray 2 years ago

            Gary, I agree with your statements. You're absolutely right that Big Pharma (and the U.S. medical care system in general) has problems and that large companies need to be appropriately regulated so consumers aren't being unfairly treated or being denied life saving treatment. But that's really where I believe it needs to stop. To me the right balance is to keep the federal government as small and fiscally responsible as possible while providing necessary services that private industry can't provide, like military protection and a legal system. Other than that, it should be focused on enabling the private industry while applying proper regulations to protect consumers and stop bad players. Beyond that, let state governments have more control. You're right that a blanket statement is extreme. However, the federal government has its hands in way too many things and doesn't do most any of them very efficiently.

            The primary point behind my original comment is that until the government can stop out of control spending, ensuring that the super wealthy are "paying their fair share" isn't going to magically fix anything. I see more evidence of it potentially causing more harm than good honestly. Take Elon Musk for example. Does anyone trying to make the point that his additional tax money will somehow resolve our infrastructure problems not realize that he's the primary driver behind developing the technology that will be the backbone for said infrastructure? He's also taking rocket technology to an entirely new level and is getting free Internet to the Ukrainians right now. I don't see how potentially crippling that kind of advancement (even though it's making him wealthy) is a good thing. As long as he's helping to keep our country on the leading edge, I personally couldn't care less how wealthy he is.

      2. Tyler Barnett 2 years ago

        What indexes are you looking at?

      3. Joseph Dadey 2 years ago

        >You all realize this money will just go to the government where it'll just be wastefully spent anyway right?

        Are you under the impression that money is going to good things now? That trickle down you think you're getting... it's just pee,

  8. Paul Weber 2 years ago

    It doesn't how much more they pay, Congress will spend it plus some on new programs that will achieve nothing...

  9. Brad Tittle 2 years ago

    I hope y'all know that you DO NOT WANT this to go through. This is really bad news.

  10. Chad Thomas 2 years ago

    Yep.

    Now give us a chart that shows me what my 401k does when those guys start dumping shares to pay their taxes on paper gains...

    1. Eric S. Johansson 2 years ago

      Your 401(k) will be destroyed because it's built on nothing but paper gains, i.e. illusion of value.

      The true value of any stock is all the assets of the company sold off and distributed equally to all shares. Our current value of stock is based on psychological distortions. It is not based on anything real or quantifiable. For if it was based on real value instead of the psychological twitching, the market wouldn't drop based on bad news or climb in a moment of euphoria. It would stay steady and react to the actual actions, sales and product developments of the given company.

      On the plus side, this might mean that investors might have to start working for a living instead of living off of the rent the extract of other people's pocketbooks.

    2. Donivan Lattimer 2 years ago

      how convenient for them that the world as it currently exists depends on them not being taxed...or else you 401k gets the cement shoes. sounds like you got some stockholm syndrome chad

      1. Brad Tittle 2 years ago

        Na. He has had to pay taxes. Not stockholm. More like frankenstein.

        I.e. swarmed by the masses, then the masses not quite getting how they get fed.

        2 years. That is how long it takes for a cow to start making milk. People getting excited about taxing the rich don't know where their milk is coming from. Most of them have had "it's not fair" beaten into their head.

        1. Eric S. Johansson 2 years ago

          401(k)s and the rich increase their asset value using the same technique. Rent seeking. The financiers managing your 401(k) don't get rich in stock, they get rich on the fees they charge for "managing" your money. In other words, rent seeking.

          The question we have yet to answer is how do you fund retirement, vacation time, sick leave etc. without rent seeking or an ever-growing population?

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