Elon Musk and taxes

[TruckElectric]

 

[John K]

Table is an example of of creating a biased viewpoint. In addition, source data is needed for the table.

 

[ajdelange]

Posts like this are intended to exacerbate class conflict and are successful because most readers won't make even the minimal effort to understand the nature of the attempted deceit. In a nutshell: if Musk's Tesla stock increase 1 Bn dollars in value in a year his net worth goes up by 1 Bn but he has no income until he sells it and therefore owes no tax. 3.27% is his FALSE tax rate as he owes no tax on his increase in net worth. Very dishonest but is anyone surprised?

 

[Crissa]

The table is conflating wealth with income.

He wasn't 'paid' a billion dollars.

-Crissa

 

[DarinCT]

There's so much wrong with this graphic. Maybe the data is correct but the details are vague. Income reported to whom? Are they insisting that there's unreported income? Are we supposed to get that the bar graphs are the five years, what's the y-axis, why is Buffets graph near the same size as Bloomberg's when he earned 10x as much. The tax rate is set according to the type of tax transaction and entity, there's no such thing as a true tax rate. I could keep going but I think the point has been made.

 

[Crissa]

Could you imagine paying income tax on the increase of the Zillow rating of your house? That's what this chart is implying.

-Crissa

 

[DarinCT]

"There's a reason you don't tax people on unrealized gains, it's because they don't have the money" - my wife

@Crissa - you beat me by seconds

 

[John K]

If the chart is accurate, I need Bloomberg’s tax attorneys.

 

[CybertruckAgent]

The article this comes from is just Communist propaganda. Stop envying others and go get yours. The only thing stopping you is your own mindset.

 

[Crissa]

The article this comes from is just Communist propaganda. Stop envying others and go get yours. The only thing stopping you is your own mindset.

That's gibberish.

When it comes to actual cash, it's very important that income taxes do work, and do increase in rate quite substantially as income rises. This makes sure our other systems of checks and balances - and equal opportunity - are not corrupted.

The corollary to 'can't get blood from a turnip' is that the bigger the cow, the more likely it is to gore you. The higher the income, the more able to avoid taxation, and the less they actually need that money to live.

Money and wealth (the stuff we count, anyhow) is created by the stability of all of use working together. So it's more fair for higher income to have higher taxation.

This chart, however, conflates income with estimated wealth and is BS. Elon could not have exchanged those options for cash, and when they matured, he still can't, because that would destroy his company.

-Crissa

 

[John K]

The chart also misses the net income nuance

 

[John K]

Going by the chart‘s numbers, Elon paid 30% (rounded) in taxes

Bloomberg paid 3% (generously rounded based on number of zeros)

numbers are clear and concise compared to text interpretation but, can be used in a far more misleading way.

 

[TruckElectric]

Here is where the chart came from:
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
https://www.propublica.org/article/...ds-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

 

[TruckElectric]

Here is where the chart came from:
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
https://www.propublica.org/article/...ds-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

How We Calculated the True Tax Rates of the Wealthiest
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-we-calculated-the-true-tax-rates-of-the-wealthiest

 

[John K]

Thanks for the link, the article is junk IMO.

my opinion is not a reflection on you posting, it is solely on the article’s approach to convey data without an agenda.