Making the Left-Wing Government Work

[Jason76]

I think Biden's economic strategy can work. However, it depends on taking huge chunks out of billionaires and millionaires. Do you think this is moral? Well, in the UK, I think this is how things are done. In fact, rock stars and the like leave the UK to escape taxes.

MSN

www.msn.com

However, if the truly rich are targeted, then will the Republican argument of taxing the middle class be over? Will the inflation and high oil prices Republicans blame on the left-wing be over?

 

[zappaDPJ]

Do you think this is moral? Well, in the UK, I think this is how things are done. In fact, rock stars and the like leave the UK to escape taxes.

There is some truth in that but the reality is a little more complex.

In the past, going as far back as far as the 60's and 70's taxation for high earners here in the UK was so high that even The Beatles found their tax obligations were likely to lead to bankruptcy. George Harrison's song 'Taxman' which stated 'There's one for you, nineteen for me, 'Cause I'm the Taxman' e.g. 95% income tax for high earners was pretty accurate.

That high level of taxation resulted in what became known as the 'brain drain' during which scientists, engineers and other so called middle class professions emigrated to America. I remember this well because my family temporarily relocated to Palos Verdes in California for a while where the buying power of the British Pound was jaw dropping.

Moving on to modern times, the super rich in the UK tend to exploit legal loopholes in offshore financial centers, held by shell companies that exist only on paper so there is not so much need to leave the UK just to avoid taxes.

As far as redistributing wealth is concerned, I think there's a balance to maintain. History hasn't looked very kindly on taxing the rich into oblivion or any other ultra left-wing politics that purports to achieve the same effect.

Personally I believe the key to a fairer society is to ensure that the rich do pay a reasonable amount of tax and that they aren't allowed to exploit legal loopholes. I also very strongly believe that the ultra rich are subject to the same financial laws aimed to prevent money laundering as you and I are. And yes I'm looking at you Mr Putin and friends 😡

 

[Jason76]

There is some truth in that but the reality is a little more complex.

In the past, going as far back as far as the 60's and 70's taxation for high earners here in the UK was so high that even The Beatles found their tax obligations were likely to lead to bankruptcy. George Harrison's song 'Taxman' which stated 'There's one for you, nineteen for me, 'Cause I'm the Taxman' e.g. 95% income tax for high earners was pretty accurate.

That high level of taxation resulted in what became known as the 'brain drain' during which scientists, engineers and other so called middle class professions emigrated to America. I remember this well because my family temporarily relocated to Palos Verdes in California for a while where the buying power of the British Pound was jaw dropping.

Moving on to modern times, the super rich in the UK tend to exploit legal loopholes in offshore financial centers, held by shell companies that exist only on paper so there is not so much need to leave the UK just to avoid taxes.

As far as redistributing wealth is concerned, I think there's a balance to maintain. History hasn't looked very kindly on taxing the rich into oblivion or any other ultra left-wing politics that purports to achieve the same effect.

Personally I believe the key to a fairer society is to ensure that the rich do pay a reasonable amount of tax and that they aren't allowed to exploit legal loopholes. I also very strongly believe that the ultra rich are subject to the same financial laws aimed to prevent money laundering as you and I are. And yes I'm looking at you Mr Putin and friends 😡

People like Michael Moore claim that rich (in the UK) aren't being taxed to bankruptcy. How true is that?

 

[zappaDPJ]

People like Michael Moore claim that rich (in the UK) aren't being taxed to bankruptcy. How true is that?

I'm fairly familiar with Michael Moore although I've not heard him make that claim. I'd say in modern times, he's correct, it's absolutely true and I think it's due in part, as I said earlier, to offshore shell companies and other tax breaks e.g. Amazon paid just £492 million UK tax in 2020 with a tax to turnover ratio of 0.37%. To put that in some context the higher rate tax in the UK is 40% but Amazon managed to bypass that by routing their UK customers through Amazon EU Sarl., a company based in Luxembourg.

 

[Artisan Vistra]

The rich can be business owners. I'm not big into law but I would take a guess that they need a way to manage their large amounts of money. If they fall under a certain income in the tax bracket but manage their money in a way to avoid certain areas of detection like say with a tax loophole and don't fully fund the IRS you can have a lot of problems anyway. Inflation is a tax on the poor and if they can't make enough money, to begin with, to make wealth. With the middle class, it depends on the business they work for and if they can store their wealth or not. The rich always win if inflation is always there and not being unchallenged because they control the buying power. They make more decisions with little effort as long as they can get away with it because they have the money.

 

[Varlot]

Not my debate to partake in, me not being from the US or a country that functions in any way that even resembles the US or being familiar with Biden's policies and policy suggestions, but: works pretty well in Scandinavia, where I'm from 🙂