US President Joe Biden is planning a new income tax law. If it goes into effect, Elon Musk will have to pay $50 billion in income taxes. But Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Mark Zuckerberg also have to bleed.
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Elon Musk could soon lose his laughter.
© Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com
US President Joe Biden is planning a new income tax law. If it actually comes into force as currently planned, it will be really expensive for Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Mark Zuckerberg will also have to bleed profusely.
Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, who was and probably still is more concerned with avoiding tax payments (including his own), the current US President Joe Biden is planning a significant change in income tax, which will be called the “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax “
20 percent tax on capital gains
The aim of the change is that owners of large shareholdings or other possessions have to pay significantly more taxes than before. The additional minimum taxes of 20 percent should namely
on not yet realized
Stock gains, as well as gains on bonds and increases in the value of other property. Because the “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” defines taxable income differently than before: not only the money that you actually receive (typically as a salary), but also book profits on shares should count as income.
Shareholders have not yet had to pay any taxes on such price gains that have not yet been realized through the sale of the shares. Shareholders don’t have to pay taxes until they sell their shares at a profit, and then they still pay a much lower tax than they pay on salaries. As previously mentioned, however, no taxes at all have been levied on pure book profits. This is about to change and book profits will also be taxable.
However, this new 20 percent minimum tax on increases in value should only be due from assets of 100 million US dollars.
An additional $360 billion in taxes
If Biden gets the law through the US Congress, an additional $360 billion will be poured into the US budget over the next ten years. According to Business Insider, the ten richest Americans alone would have to pay up to 215 billion US dollars more.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk has benefited in particular from the massive increases in the value of Tesla shares in recent years (and once sold shares, allegedly only to finally be able to pay taxes): Elon Musk pays billions in taxes. On the other hand, Musk has used tricks in the past to avoid paying taxes: Elon Musk is moving to a tax haven: bye bye California.
According to US calculations, Musk would have to pay up to $50 billion in income tax if the new 20 percent minimum tax were applied to all unrealized book profits.
Bezos, Gates, Google founders, Zuckerberg
Jeff Bezos, who benefited from the rise in Amazon shares, would have to pay the state $35 billion. Bill Gates would still be there with at least 11 billion dollars. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin would have to pay $22 billion and $21 billion respectively. Ex-Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer would get away comparatively cheaply with 10 billion dollars. Whereas Oracle boss and bully Larry Ellison would have to pay 17 billion. And Facebook alias Meta-Boss Mark Zucker? He should transfer 16 billion dollars.
But first the US government has to find a parliamentary majority for its new income tax law…
Elon Musk had already opposed the tax plans in October 2021
voiced
: “Eventually they run out of other people’s money and then they come to you,” he wrote on Twitter.
Exactly. Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2021
Elon Musk is now the richest person in the world
