cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10378330

A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness found that America’s richest families accumulated $8.5 trillion in untaxed capital gains in 2022

America’s wealthiest families held an astounding $8.5 trillion in untaxed profits in 2022. According to a report from the nonprofit Americans for Tax Fairness, which analyzed Federal Reserve data, “one in every six dollars (18 percent of the nation’s unrealized gains is held by these roughly 64,000 ultra-wealthy households, who make up less than 0.05 percent of the population.” The report comes as the Supreme Court gears up to decide a case that could preemptively block any efforts to tax the wealth of billionaires.

The data looks at “quiet” income generated by “centi-millionaires,” Americans holding at least $100 million in wealth, and billionaires through unrealized capital gains. Those gains accumulate, untaxed, as assets and investments like stocks, real estate, bonds, and other investments increase in value. If those assets are not sold — or “realized” — they are not taxed, yet America’s wealthiest families can leverage that on-paper value increase to secure favorable loans with low-interest rates in lieu of using taxable income to finance their lifestyle.

“Of the $139 trillion in America’s national wealth, almost three-quarters (73 percent) is held by the richest 10 percent of households, over one-third (35 percent) by the richest 1 percent, and an astounding 11 percent — $15.2 trillion — is held by the handful of fortunate households that make up the billionaire and centi-millionaire class,” the report says. “The wealthiest 1 percent of households hold 44 percent of national unrealized gains ($21.2 trillion), with billionaires and centi-millionaires alone controlling 18 percent ($8.5 trillion).”

  • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Is it ok to put ketchup on my billionaire or is that an American faux pas? Look, I’m ready and willing to eat them, but at least let me use Tabasco, okay?

  • Blackout@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    What if you suddenly become trillionaire one day, just because you worked so much harder than the 10,000 people that work for you. Then you will regret supporting these wealthist laws. That’s right, being rich is now a race and you all should be ashamed of your prejudice!

    • NOSin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I feel that without a /s, quite some are gonna think you’re serious.

      • VikingHippie@lemmy.wtf
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        1 year ago

        That’s the risk of doing anything satirical these days. Satire isn’t dead like some people say, it just has more booby traps.

    • I really want to hear this speech made in front of a massive crowd of restaurant wait staff (especially diners and fast food) and USMC riflemen, the ones who have seen action and can’t get treatment from the DVA.

    • oDDmON@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Some writers have the temerity to call themselves journalists, when clearly they are not.

    • Spendrill@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Quoting directly from the article here:

      This term, the Supreme Court will decide Moore v. United States, a case which — according to the plaintiff couple’s lawyers —- “stands to slam shut the door on a federal wealth tax.” The Moores, a married couple, are challenging a “mandatory repatriation tax” created under former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax bill, which required some Americans with business holdings outside of the United States to pay a one-time tax on income generated by their foreign earnings. The Moores argue that since their earnings had not been distributed as dividends, there should be no tax.

    • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      The reason they’ve been auditing poorer people more is specifically because their budget was cut, because it’s expensive to audit rich people (but also, ROI on auditing rich people is much higher, so they should be funded to do that)