re: Wall Street Journal lamenting taxes aren't higher on billionaires

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So, ultimately, the $ is taxed. Just not from the dirty billionaire.

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I think we are talking at cross purposes. Let me illustrate my meaning with an example.

A billionaire takes no income but lives off of his investments. He does not want to sell shares because he would have to pay capital gains. So he borrows, at very favorable interest rates, against his investments. The lender gives him a ten million dollar loan at 4% interest. He blows the ten million during the next 12 months on his lifestyle.

In 12 months, assuming simple interest, he owes $10,400,000, at which time he borrows another $10 million. He keeps doing that every year.

The lender is JP Morgan Chase. The $400,000 is revenue to them and is taxed that way. This is the status quo ante.

The proposed tax would be that the $10million he got in year one would trigger a 21% “capital gains equivalence” tax. So the billionaire pays $2,100,000 in taxes. The lender pays the same tax he paid in the status quo ante example.

The billionaire’s tax basis is adjusted up the amount he paid, such that when he eventually sells, he won’t pay capital gains on $10 million of gains.

WTF are you laughing at? That’s exactly what’s happening.

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You’ve yet to show them actually dodging them, only deferred as I said in my first post.

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Deferred indefinitely. Past their lifetime and perhaps past their heirs’.

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i was a broker for 21 years and lived out of my margin account and i don't know a single broker that didn't.

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That’s completely different. A margin account is earned. When you withdrew from that account did you pay taxes?

So, in your opinion, shares transferred in an irrevocable trust aren’t going to be subject to capital gains tax?

ETA: and since we seem to primarily be talking about company stock shares, how exactly do you think those are handled when issued?

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So, in your opinion, shares transferred in an irrevocable trust aren’t going to be subject to capital gains tax?

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No, that’s incorrect. I stated that they would be. It is inheritance taxes they would avoid, which is the purpose of the trust. But what is insidious is the combination of being able to avoid inheritance taxes when you die and capital gains/income taxes when you are alive - being an extremely high net worth individual who simply goes through life and death without paying taxes. That’s not fair to the rest of us, just as it’s not fair that plenty of “poor” people goof off, suck at the public teat, and never contribute.

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: Billionaires low taxes are becoming a problem for the economy

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Well that's a statement that renders them...compromised.

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you know kid there's a lot of stuff you don't know!

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For sure. Having never worked in that industry I did not know that. I was not in the financial sector at all. I earned mine in the engineering consulting business mostly in the oilfields.

Back to your example. Over a five year period did you have income? Did you pay taxes? If so, that would be completely different than the target of these taxes.

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being an extremely high net worth individual who simply goes through life and death without paying taxes

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Well if this is your concern, then we can put this to rest. They do pay taxes.