Taxing super-rich debate should start with 2% levy, says economist behind plan

My personal first step in increasing income from capital gains is to tax any stock-buyback at 50%... If company has money to buyback stock it might as well be heavily taxed...<p>This would direct cash to dividends which then could get taxed as individual gains...

This kind of assumes liquidity... A lot of wealth is tied up in stocks and physical assets. Imagine having to orchestrate selling 2% of everything you own every year. And why over a billion, why not put it at over a million, or ten?<p>You could seize the full assets of every US Billionaire and it wouldn&#x27;t cover a single year of the federal budget or dent the debt. There&#x27;s no way to tax out of this hole... spending cuts need to happen, and restructuring as well. Taxes should focus on points of exchange.

The jurisdictions I&#x27;m aware of that have actually implemented these taxes impose per-mille, not percent.

I had no idea there were so many billionaires on HN - billionaires who cannot possibly for any reason think of a way to pay taxes because as it is explained in comments here, it is simply not possible, and if it was possible they shouldn&#x27;t pay because federal spending.

Billionaire wealth in the US totals $5.5T dollars.<p>In 2024, the Federal government is projected to borrow $1.9T.<p>And remember: billionaire wealth is mostly paper wealth. The deficit is real dollars.<p>We have a spending problem. Not a rich people problem.