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“We’re going to say that for all the stocks and financial instruments that you all own, we’re going to value your assets, and when they go up in worth, we’re going to tax them, just like it’s income,” said state Rep. Will Guzaardi, who sees this as the start of a nationwide movement.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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This will be disaster for Illinois. A little discussed aspect of all these wealth tax plans is the impact on your federal income tax. If my portfolio goes up, say, $1 million, and I have to pay 7% Illinois wealth tax, where do I get the $70k? I probably have to sell some stock, which of course triggers a federal income tax liability. So to get the$70k cash to pay the Illinois tax, I have to sell way more than $70k worth of stock because I have to have enough cash to pay the fed tax as well. Wealthy people… Read more »
Great example – thanks. Some lucky winners have won luxury vehicles, but had to sell them in order to pay the state/federal taxes. Those vehicles are valued at sticker price. This is a nuance lost on many folks because financial literacy is rarely part of any curriculum, though it should be … starting in the early grades. Instead most learn what they can in the school of hard knocks. Financial literacy would have saved many a student from crushing debt and lots of folks from overwhelming credit card problems. The whole education system needs a good hard kick in the… Read more »
So when the value of the investment portfolio drops can you deduct the loss?
It is the best way to thin out the herd of Billionaires. Look out Texas and Florida, the billionaires are coming. Illinois is doing its best to chase out the productive people who create jobs. The problem is OVERLY GENEROUS PENSIONS. There is a huge pension time bomb going off right now and taxes will have to double over the next decade. This is the largest generation theft in history.
They tried this in England in the 70s. It got so bad (90% of gross income) that soccer players and rock stars all left the UK. It’s how Ozzie Osbourne ended up in Cali!
You’re right OJ. I remember a lot of wealthy Brits moving their money, or themselves, to friendly tax havens. The Beatles even wrote a song about it. Taxman.
How are these economic illiterates going to tax artwork, cars, collectibles, homes and other illiquid assets?
They’ll send you a shakedown letter
They couldn’t care less about the correct assessment! It’s the awesome power that comes with it and the selective enforcement that they’re after.
They can
t what theyre talking about doing is TOTALY UNCONSTITUTIONALYes, it would be unconstitutional.
Stewie, Guzzardi is also the one who sponsored the law, signed by JB, for government assistance to help pay for property taxes funded by, you guessed it, property taxes. https://wirepoints.org/pure-genius-a-chicago-loan-program-to-help-pay-property-taxes-funded-by-property-taxes-wirepoints-quickpoint/
Kinda like a snake eating its tail, eh?
I can already envision the loopholes in this proposal. It will be a cash cow for Tax and Estate attorneys. Those on the margin that are asset rich but cash poor or already leveraged will be caught and slaughtered.
I suspect that this is unconstitutional and will be just another Illinois legislatin that eventually is crushed in court while the IL taxpayer foots the legal bill. Disgusting.
Yep, when there’s nobody left with bucks we’ll finally have Nirvana!
This is the definition of communism: The promise to hurt the people you blame for your problems in exchange for power. Rep Guzaardi promises to punish the ‘rich’ people with a ridiculously punitive and destructive tax so that voters will keep voting for him.
I dislike the rich as much as the next guy but this is just stupid and counterproductive.
Kulaks
Why do you dislike the rich?
Let’s not use too broad a brush. I’m a big fan of good rich people – not the filthy rich who use their money to buy power or hide it in the Bahamas, but the rich who invest their bounty in businesses, altruism, charity, and job creation. Rich folks like Ken Griffin help working people fight unfair taxation (wish he had been here for the Amendment One fight). Entrepreneurial rich folks create jobs, and even industries. Elon Musk used part of his fortune and influence to expose the Twitter universe’s collusion with liberals. I’m sure a lot us have earned… Read more »