Long past time to restore equity to our tax system
I would like to examine a couple of your assumptions in your editorial regarding the application of a wealth tax (“Yesterday’s tax policy won’t solve today’s yawning wealth gap,” June 29).
You express skepticism that the public and the courts could accept a tax on wealth in addition to income. You are concerned that some might have to sell assets to pay a tax bill and that this might hinder investment. Please. We already have a wealth tax in the form of real estate taxes. Municipalities frequently foreclose on homes because of owners’ inability to pay their real estate taxes.
For countless Americans, all of their wealth is in their homes. They may have little income, but they have a taxable asset, which is the roof over their heads. Their tax bill may rise every year, and there is nothing they can do to stop it. Their unpaid taxes could consume them and their heirs. You should editorialize about how to achieve equity across the whole spectrum of taxation.
There is plenty of room for the wealthy to pay their share of the costs of a civil society, and we need not worry that they might gasp and clutch their pearls. In my lifetime, federal income taxes have only gone down and now are but a fraction of what they were when we went to war in Korea. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders know what to do. By all means, tax extreme wealth and restore equity to our system.
Frank W. Riepe
Sudbury
Get the wealthy to pay their fair share? It’s simple
In “Yesterday’s tax policy won’t solve today’s yawning wealth gap,” the Editorial Board writes, “Making sure that everyone pays their share isn’t just fair — it’s an untapped source of revenue for public services and a way to moderate widening wealth inequality in the United States.”
Our taxes should be changed as follows: All income, including capital gains, inheritance, gifts, and bequests should be taxed as ordinary income. Income tax rates should continue to be graduated, with the top tax rate set at 50 percent instead of the current 37 percent. The only deduction should be, say, $25,000 for someone filing separately or $50,000 for a couple filing jointly.
These changes would simplify our tax policy, increase revenue for public services, and, most important, make sure that the wealthy pay their fair share.
Vic Presutti
Dayton, Ohio
Go after those capital gains
Regarding your editorial on tax policy, I have a suggestion: Maybe we should tax on-paper capital gains for people whose gains exceed, say, $1 million in a given year. If that means that wealthy investors need to actually sell some investments and realize some actual gains to pay those taxes, that doesn’t seem like too much of a hardship. Alternatively, they could use some of their pocket change to pay the taxes. This might be easier to enforce than a wealth tax, per se.
David Meyers
Amesbury
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There must be a way to get the wealthy to pay their fair share - The Boston Globe
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