alt Hacker NewsDutch House of Representatives advances controversial 36% tax law
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In Ted Turner's autobiography [0] (highly recommended) he describes how wealth individuals got around the very high income taxes in the 1960s-1970s:
- Person A is selling their company to Person B
- The total price is very high (let's say millions)
- I B pays A the millions, A will have to pay a large tax burden
- Instead, A "loans" the money to B so that B can "buy" the business
- This creates a stream of small payments (less tax), spread out over time
I mention this only b/c smart people will eventually figure out ways around these taxes.
For example, there are already "barter networks" in Scandinavia where Person 1 does plumbing for Person 2, Person 2 does legal work for Person 3 who in turn does accounting for Person 1. All so there is less income reported.
The ladder has been pulled up few years ago. Now they are pouring down boiling tar.
Doesn't look like there is additional tax on the property itself which would be way worse, but still it's completely medieval to tax rises in asset value before there is any cash flow intended to be realized from the rise.
The rate might even be in excess of medieval times, I don't know, but it's bound to drive people away who are not flush with cash. I would maybe consider limiting to crypto alone, and still only after being sold for a profit.
I assume property tax is already exorbitant. I don't know how deep the similarities go, but in Florida many a subdivision or even whole new towns have been carved out of wetlands which were not welcoming otherwise.
Sometimes where dry land didn't even exist before :)
Eventually the subdivision fills, property values rise, and taxes do too automatically.
This is by design, once it's full, they want to tax you out of there to make room for people with more money to spare.
Is that where the pressure's coming from?
They could end up with no room for anybody except the very elite.
If that doesn't work they could always raise the tax rates even more, escalating the same logic ought to move faster in the same direction ;)
They also raised the retirement age past 70. It's a clear signal for wagies to know their place and not to get any ambition of financial independence.
I've got a little girl that just started school, which complicates things, but I'm really reconsidering my future in the country.