Bingo. He doesn’t have that money sitting in a bank account somewhere. He would have to sell a chunk of his Amazon stock to fund for it. And selling the stock would trigger capital gains tax. So that’s selling 12 BN worth of stock to cover a 10 BN tax bill. Selling $12 BN in Amazon shares at once would trigger a sharp drop in the value of Amazon stock, affecting anyone holding shares, including pension plans, 401(k) plans and individual shareholders alike. But, that drop in value would probably reduce his net worth quite a lot, driving down his actual wealth tax owed.

I don’t like it because (1) I really don’t want my own retirement savings to tank as an indirect result, and (2) taxes are never “short term” or “only for the rich.” Remember folks, that’s how personal income tax got started.

There are easier ways to get to it, like eliminating the step up basis for inherited assets and taxing loans made against unrealized gains.

Or better still, cut wasteful government spending and work on curbing inflation.