What is this 15% wealth tax?
Trump proposed a way to bring down the national debt by taxing all wealth above $10 mm in lieu of paying the death tax. He has adjusted the particulars, but it goes like this:
Calculate your wealth according to to consistent set of rules.
This is the amount of wealth that will be sheltered against any future death taxes.
Subtract $10 mm from the total.
Your wealth tax is 15% of the remainder.
You have “several years” to pay the wealth tax.
To pay it, you must purchase US treasury bills and bonds in the open market and then present them to the Treasury for cancellation. This insures that the government never gets its hands on the money.
The Trump Wealth Tax would raise $5-6 trillion and would bring our national debt into a much more manageable position, in addition to saving the interest payments on the retired debt.
He also points out that the stock market would rally more than 15% to reflect the certainty of the future of the US balance sheet. Thus, the tax is free and is derived from renewed optimism in the US markets.
Pretty smart, huh?
I know some folks that would pay this and they are thrilled to do away with estate planning and death tax issues. They would do this tomorrow.