Proponents of a proposal to levy a one-time tax on California billionaires say they’ve gathered enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot in November.
The campaign says it has collected more than 1.5m signatures, according to a statement.
The proposal has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans having threatened to leave the state and the governor, Gavin Newsom, opposing the proposal.
The measure imposes a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires – including stocks, art, businesses, collectibles and intellectual property – to backfill federal funding cuts to health services for lower-income people that were signed by Donald Trump last year. The tax is sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, and would apply retroactively to billionaires living in the state as of 1 January.
So, a person worth exactly $1 billion would owe $50 million. How will they survive on only $950 million?
Make billionaires millionaires again! Literally no downside, the economy and 99% of us benefit.
I’m all for taxing billionaires, but I do ponder what will happen to the economy when they liquidate those assets. As people often point out, their net worth is largely tired up in stocks. Will they liquidate stocks, or go their usual route of borrowing against their holdings?
And what is the legality of levying a tax against someone who lived in the state but moved?
Stocks will go down in price. Which is good. Ownership of companies should be more accessible to the average person, and the value of owning a stock should be in the dividends it pays, not in the potential of the share to appreciate in value.
Proponents of a proposal to levy a one-time tax on California billionaires
One time tax? Seriously?
Can I have a one time tax on my shitty income as well and then continue to barely pay any taxes at all, like them, please?
WTF with this?
Put a wealth cap in place already! 10 million dollars as max net worth will do. Any income over that will go 100% to tax
GTFU with this one time nonsense
If that’s what you want, put together a coalition and gather the signatures.
That sort of thing needs to be at a national level. Too easy for them to just move to a new state.
