this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
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You don't fuck with the tax man. They got Al Capone, they'll get you, and they'll get the billionaires, if the laws are right and there's enough funding to investigate ownership structures of large companies, and the relationships between different major shareholders.
Plus I don't think anyone has hundreds of family members to hide away hundreds of billions.
Besides, you'd have to divide it before the company gets large enough for it to matter. If your company is worth 800 mill and you're the only shareholder, selling off half to anyone for anything significantly less than the perceived value of the company, would be investigated as potential tax evasion.
I think a lot of people forget that tax authorities are supposed to look for these cases of hiding wealth. In many civilized countries, they do it for real.
You don't see the difference between Al Capone, an open criminal who was known for peddling alcohol during prohibition (and probably a murder or three), and billionaires who have enough capital so that they're basically under the jurisdiction of no individual nation? I'm not even talking about criminality, let's take that element out completely... You still don't see the difference between these people?
Also, you understand that the "taxman" is the IRS, right? And that Trump is going to pretty much defund them (probably leave just enough for him to target his perceived enemies).
We're talking about an imaginary society where shit works and laws are moderately sensible, not 2025 USA.
If said billionaires have assets in other countries, it can be tracked via global anti tax evasion agreements. Even opaque countries are getting more transparent under pressure.
So how come Jeff Bezos pays less tax than drag does?
Because the current tax code is designed for him, not drag. That's what I would like to change if I was elected benevolent dictator for life with no risk of being deposed by the oligarchs. For the super wealthy, tax all assets, for the super poor, tax nothing and give UBI, and for the working and middle class, a fair progressive income tax, and property tax on homes you don't live in year-round, but none on your primary residence. In terms of income tax, the tax brackets would go up slowly at first and then ramp up really high. Someone making 100k a year should pay roughly what they pay now, those making less should pay less, and those making 500k+ a year should pay a lot more than they pay now.
So you're describing a theoretical version of the IRS that's a hundred times more competent than the real one? Interesting.
We're talking about a hypothetical future anyway, whether it be guillotining oligarchs, full on communism with no private property, or my proposed middle ground between the current shitshow and a total "no private property" totalitarian state. IRS could be pretty competent, but they lack funding, and the tax code itself is riddled with loopholes.
Out of any place the US government could invest, IRS has one of the better returns. You invest a dollar and get several back. Mostly from rich tax evaders