Entrepreneur Elon Musk slammed Democrats in a tweet on Monday over a proposal they are considering that would tax unrealized capital gains.
The proposal for the tax plan has gained steam in the wake of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) opposing raising corporate and individual tax rates to pay for Democrat President Joe Biden’s massive multi-trillion dollar social spending bill.
The New York Times reported:
Billionaires could be taxed on unrealized capital gains on their liquid assets, Democratic officials said yesterday. It would affect people with $1 billion in assets or those who have reported at least $100 million in income for three consecutive years, according to news reports. That would ensnare perhaps 700 taxpayers — or the wealthiest 0.0002 percent — but Democrats hope it would generate at least $200 billion in revenue over a decade. It would cover not only stocks, but also other assets like real estate.
Musk criticized the plan in a tweet that came in response to a sample letter that someone posted online that offered a template for what Americans should say to their elected officials.
The letter stated:
Dear (Senator of Congress Member’s name),
I expect you to oppose the Wyden proposal to tax unrealized capital gains. Although the proposal targets billionaires and not myself, the government of elected representatives have a track record of scope creep when writing new taxes. I anticipate that any new unrealized capital gains taxes will slowly make their way down to middle class retirement investments over the next several years. It will start with billionaires, then eventually millionaires, then the modest investments will get hit possibly within a decade. Although principle residences and holdings in 401K plans apparently will be excluded, the Wyden proposal takes new tax hikes a step closer to imposing unrealized capital gains tax on the average investor.
Thank you for your support.
“Exactly,” Musk, who is at the moment the wealthiest person in the world, wrote. “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you.”
Exactly. Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2021
Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the Houston Rockets and numerous other businesses, warned on Monday that if the plan from Democrats was passed that it could destroy capitalism in the U.S.
When asked about the tax during a Fox News interview, Fertitta said that if it passes it will “make me not build as much because I won’t have the ability that creates so many more jobs.”
“And then you’re paying so many different taxes,” he continued. “Every employee pays payroll taxes, all your sales taxes, all the taxes they pay. It’s truly a mistake. It’s a social way of not doing things in this country. It’s the European way. Our great capitalism will slowly come to an end. And do I believe in taxes to make our country great? Absolutely. I don’t think a balance sheet billionaires tax is the way to do it. Do it on income. You can’t do it on balance sheets. It’ll never be right.”
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Source: Dailywire
