Posted on 12/22/2024 8:12:25 PM PST by lasereye
Washington State’s unofficial state motto has long been “Al-ki” which means either “bye and bye” or “by and by” in Chinook. The former meaning now seems official as Gov. Jay Inslee pushes for a “wealth tax.” Wealthy citizens are already saying bye to the state in anticipation of what one Democratic billionaire recently called a “boneheaded” move. The problem is that rich people can move. Unlike fixed assets like a mansion, they can take their wealth and taxes to other states without such laws.
The post from Senate Democrats supporting Senate Bill 5486 said, “The first $250 million of assessed value is exempted, meaning only the wealthiest people in Washington would pay the tax, including some of the wealthiest individuals in the world.”
I have previously written against wealth taxes from both constitutional and practical perspectives in the federal system. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) has long been a proponent of wealth taxes and the Biden Administration supported the effort.
The Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania found that Warren’s legislation would raise $2.7 trillion in revenue, but it would also reduce capital by 3.1%, depress average hourly wages by 1.2%, and reduce gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.2% in 2050.
It is part of an “eat the rich” pitch from liberal politicians and pundits.
When struggling in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pledged a wealth tax, declaring that she was coming after “the diamonds, the yachts, and the Rembrandts too.” Then-New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, another Democratic contender at the time, was barely registering in the polls when he promised that “we will tax the hell out of the wealthy.”
The federal constitutional problems are not barriers to the states. However, the effort to hammer the wealthy has never worked for states or countries. France previously saw a massive exodus after it attempted to clip the most wealthy and had to reverse its policies.
Putting aside expected legal challenges, Democratic donor Nick Hanauer criticized state Democrats for the push and said he had already spoken to the wealthiest citizens about fleeing the state.
“Even if it clears the legal, implementation & other challenges, it’s unlikely to raise much [money] given every wealthy person I’ve spoken to in the last few days has said they will leave the state. I believe them. Thoughtful taxes don’t actually drive people away, boneheaded taxes do.”
That is the problem with eating the rich . . . they have to stay put to be eaten. These wealthy individuals are already willing to pay some of the highest taxes in blue states for income. However, a wealth tax would expose their property to what is likely to become an irresistible target for politicians unwilling to make tough budget choices.
Of course, Washington could follow California in seeking a retroactive tax. Rather than try to keep the most wealthy citizens, it could seek to make them pay to leave the state like a giant Venus Flytrap.
We previously discussed the push in California to impose a retroactive tax on the many citizens and companies fleeing that state due to its high taxes and other problems. Warren wants to do the same nationally. So, if businesses are fleeing the country due to these policies, they would have to essentially pay for the freedom in a type of captivity tax. It is incredibly short-sighted. They need these businesses and they will not be able to coerce them into staying by trying to make it more expensive to leave.
The wealth tax campaigns combine fiscal negligence with political opportunism. Rather than imposing budgetary restraints and reducing budgets, Democrats promise to fleece the superrich. This short-term appeal is likely to cost the state dearly as the wealthy leave for less predatorial states.
You can stay in Washington state and get hit with a wealth tax or you can “bye and bye” and move out of the way. It appears that millionaires are already training with a financial expert in Washington to move out of the way of the wealth tax:
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
But at the same time, he said he won't pay more than he's required to, because "taxes aren't meant to be optional". He explained that he wants all the billionaires to pay more. That does not strike me as a very convincing explanation.
It just so happens that Gates lives in WA. Interestingly the article also noted that Gates criticizes Washington's tax code because it doesn't have an income tax, which lets people like himself get off with paying too little taxes.
I kind of hope this WA wealth tax goes into effect just to see how Gates tries to get around it by moving out of the state, fighting it in court etc.
But at the same time, he said he won't pay more than he's required to, because "taxes aren't meant to be optional".
Saw that too. Yes, his explanation was nonsense.
It’s an evasive non-answer. It basically means nothing.
They will just screw up wherever they move to and wonder why their new state goes down the tubes too.
Exactly.
Thou shall not covet.
There was a New York Mayor who, when he found out El RushBo left New York due, in part, to the insane taxes, the Mayor stated: “if I knew that would make Rush leave, I would have raised taxes years ago.” About a decade later, another New York Mayor stated:”we can’t keep raising taxes on the rich, because they will leave. They are the ones funding New York.”
paying taxes is VOLUNTARY! or so the IRS says anyway...
so PAY what you feel is your fair share, and fire your TAX accountants while you’re at it
As our state has a budget surplus.
He has been putting his money in his foundation to avoid taxes. Now there is nothing that is preventing the rich from paying more, they can.
I can tell you a simple way the rich can pay more, just don’t take any deductions for charitable giving , pay the extra taxes and problem solved.
Well said.
“taxes aren’t meant to be optional”.’
What does that even mean?
It means taxes will be collected with an iron fist.
In my experience that $250,000,000 limit is very fungeable. Soon it will be down to down to a few million. There’s no way they can collect any meaningful tax this way with a $250,000,000 threshold before the tax kicks in.
State governments are so stupid that they believe the rich will stand still to get eaten.
Millionaires Go Missing
Maryland's fleeced taxpayers fight back.
May 27, 2009
Here's a two-minute drill in soak-the-rich economics:
Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year (i.e., 2013), so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay...[end excerpt]
It’s easy to have a budget surplus. Florida has one every fiscal year. It’s that silly law that makes a balanced budget mandatory, and has hard rules for how the next fiscal budget will be calculated based on the current years income. It almost always comes in a little low versus actual revenues. That gives the Governor a little largesse to spread around. The surplus has been used to see teachers, police, and firefighters get bonuses, or schools get some extra money, or we have several no sales tax days each year. What a concept. return the money to the people.
Only the richest will pay this wealth tax. Just like the federal income tax.
Those who work, innovate, build businesses and employ people pay taxes while lazy people sit back and live off the results of their hard earned money. We have way too many “takers”! Instead of 87,000 more IRS agents we need we need 87,000 Social Security Disability/SSI fraud investigators.
filing is voluntary
paying taxes is not
the irs will file a return for you and send you a bill
It’s not a tax if he simply “donates” money to the Treasury. So donate away, nobody will stop you.
What a moron.
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