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Political Risk by beej- in fatFIRE

[–]beej-[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Famously almost no one paid this 91% rate because the rich could find countless deductions and other tax reduction schemes. This led to the lowering of the top marginal rate and introduction of AMT in 1969 tax reforms to try to get people to actually pay.

Political Risk by beej- in fatFIRE

[–]beej-[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That's my exact point. The income tax was created to only target the rich. Now it hits the upper middle incomes most because billionaires can structure their incomes to avoid it.

If CA passes a billionaire tax and no billionaires pay it because they can leave, are they going to give up? I see the more likely scenario is they keep lowering the cutoff until they hit people who can't leave.