Bill Gates wants ultra-wealthy individuals to pay more tax — and now a growing chorus of billionaires agree.
In his annual “Ask Me Anything” forum on Reddit last year, the Microsoft cofounder said he was “surprised” that taxes for the rich haven’t been increased more.
Gates doubled down on his calls to tax the rich in a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. He said the wealthiest nations should donate more money to developing countries to help redress inequality.
“Those who have the most — whether it’s countries, companies, or individuals — should be pushed to be more generous,” he said.
It seems others agree, as more than 250 ultra-wealthy people signed an open letter calling for global leaders to impose a wealth tax.
Some of these people are so filthy rich they wouldn’t even notice the missing money after their tax bill got paid. I’m pretty well convinced that they are just tax evading for sport.
It’s not for sport, but it’s by the same means anyone with even remotely complex assets gets tax advantages. You pay someone to manage your tax returns for you. You will naturally, by trial and error and recommendations from friends (and in the case of these billionaires, probably have accountants knocking on your door asking to do your returns for hefty fees), end up with the person (or organisation) who saves you the most money, because why wouldn’t you?
Now, you’re still liable for not paying tax you should’ve paid, but I don’t think people are going out of their way to find tax loopholes. Accountants do that for them, and there is absolutely no incentive to find an accountant that’s more “ethical” because, for that industry, it makes no sense to do anything other than get the most back for your clients.
You’re right though. There would be no tangible impact to these people’s lives, and it’s for this reason they should all be supportive of increasing the tax they pay.