Supreme Court: Wealth Tax Lies

A case before the US Supreme Court, Moore v. United States, is an effort to kill a 2017 tax on foreign investments. The plaintiff’s conservative lawyers have based their case on fictional claims in hopes the court will protect the rich from any future wealth taxes.

Charles and Kathleen Moore, a married couple, own a stake in an Indian farm equipment business. Their lawyers claim they’re minority shareholders who haven’t received any payments from the company, so it’s unconstitutional to tax their shares since they haven’t been cashed out for personal profit yet.

But wait. Lead plaintiff Charles Moore served as board director for five years. He told the courts he only invested $40,000 in this company but actually invested $150,000. He also loaned the company $245,000, which was paid back with interest. He traveled to India to oversee the company’s operations and received $14,000 in travel reimbursements. When the new law was coming into effect, he worked with the company’s founder to try to lower his stake so that he wouldn’t face the tax. To do so, he sold 521,000 shares of the company in August and September 2019 for a capital gain not disclosed in his court filings.

Of course, imaginary case facts haven’t stopped this Supreme Court from deciding for conservative plaintiffs in the past.

To outlaw all wealth taxes, “Originalist” justices would need to turn a blind eye to history. A 1796 wealth tax was upheld by that Founders’ era Supreme Court.

More:

“Oops! The Supreme Court Heard Another Case Built on Shameless Lies.” Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, Slate

“The Supreme Court Takes On Yet Another Made-Up Controversy,” Conor Clarke, The Atlantic

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Trump 2.0: Tax Cuts for the Rich, Tax Hikes for the Middle Class

When he’s not contemplating how to govern America from a prison cell, Donald Trump is conferring with his economic advisors on how to give the rich even bigger tax cuts in his presumed second term as U.S. president. Their plan: a tax cut for the wealthy, dropping corporate tax rates to 15 percent, paired with a 10 percent tariff, increasing the economic burden on the middle class. So much for GOP populism.

More:

“Trump advisers plot aggressive new tax cuts for second White House term,” Jeff Stein, Washington Post

“Trump’s Economic Plan: Raise Taxes on the Middle Class, Cut Them on the Rich.” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

Related:

“Child poverty more than doubled in 2022 due to Republicans’ tax cut push. Trump plans for more.” Tatyana Tandanpolie, Salon

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Embryos Are People Under Georgia Tax Law

Under Georgia state tax law, embryos gestating for over 6 weeks are now considered dependent children. The state Department of Revenue will allow deductions of $3000 for each 3/4-inch long blob of cells if they have perceptibly pulsing cardiac activity, often wrongly called a “fetal heartbeat.”

Who knows, maybe gun ownership and voting rights will be next under such so-called “personhood laws“.

More:

“Embryos can be listed as dependents on tax returns, Georgia rules,” Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian

“Georgia says ‘unborn child’ counts as dependent on taxes after 6 weeks,” María Luisa Paúl, Washington Post

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Who pays the lowest taxes in the US?

Who pays the lowest taxes in the USA? Yep, that’s right, poor folks.

More:

“How to Tax Our Way Back to Justice,” Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, New York Times

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Hey GOP, why aren’t we filing taxes on a postcard?

Remember all those times Republicans promised you’d be filing your Federal Income Taxes on postcard? The 1040 may be physically smaller, but it’s 2-sided, and you’ll have to attach a bunch of other new forms to it. Instructions for the 1040 total 117 pages. After all, it’s not like they shrank the tax code, just the tax rates for the 1 Percent.

A Vox video by Madeline Marshall and Matthew Yglesias.

Related:

“Only 17 Percent of Americans Think They’re Benefiting From Trump’s 2017 Tax Cut,” Daily Beast

“Survey: Few people think they’re getting a tax cut under Trump’s law,” Naomi Jagoda, The Hill

“Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing. Thank TurboTax.” Justin Elliott, ProPublica

“The Tax Law’s Big Winner Is the Millionaire CEO,” Joe Light, Bloomberg

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The new US tax law, explained with cereal

The most important meal of the day: Vox explains the new US tax law with cereal.

More:

“The Republican tax bill, explained with a bowl of cartoon cereal,” Alvin Chang, Vox.

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Tax Rates: Adam Smith Speaks

“The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess …. It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”

The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, 1776

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Trump Erects Trade Barrier With Canada

Developer-in-Chief Donald Trump just increased the cost of America’s new homes and decreased US construction jobs. How? putting a punitive tariff on imports of wood from Canada. “We’re going to be putting a 20 percent tax on softwood lumber coming in — tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada,” tweeted the president.

Canadian softwoods — pine, spruce, fir — are used to frame most new home construction in the USA.

More:

“In New Trade Front, Trump Slaps Tariff on Canadian Lumber,” Peter Baker and Ian Austen, New York Times

“Why Is Trump Bashing Canada All of a Sudden?” Joshua Keating, Slate

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It’s Magic! Trump’s Tax Cut Will Pay for Itself.

On Wednesday the Trump Administration rolled out its Tax Plan, less a ‘plan’ than a plutocrat’s wet dream: Corporate tax rate slashed, huge new pass-through business loophole opened, giveaways to wealthy heirs, taxes for the rich slashed and their nannies and mansions subsidized through tax deductions.

This won’t produce a federal revenue shortfall, the Tax Fairy promises; tax cuts for the wealthy will pay for themselves.  How? Magic! The same magic that worked so well during the 30 years of the GOP’s trickle-down, deregulating, big-corporate, no-taxes-for-the-rich philosophy, the failed policies that crashed the world economy when Republican leadership was last inflicted upon the nation, making the rich even wealthier at the expense of the rest.

More:

“Trump’s treasury secretary: The tax cut ‘will pay for itself,'” Damian Paletta and Max Ehrenfreund, Washington Post

“Mnuchin: Our Tax Cuts for the Rich Are Not About Cutting Taxes for the Rich,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“The New GOP Math: ‘Dynamic Scoring’ Doesn’t Add Up.” NotionsCapital

Update:

“37 top economists all say Trump’s tax plan won’t pay for itself,” Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox

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Cash-Strapped Palm Beach Considers ‘Mar-a-Lago Tax’

Palm Beach County gave Donald Trump tax breaks when he bought Mar-a-Lago, but his weekend trips to the “Winter White House” are breaking the county’s budget. A typical Donald Trump visit costs the county more than $60,000 a day for police overtime, and the county estimated its costs for Trump’s visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at over $250,000. That’s why County Commissioner Dave Kerner is proposing a tax on Mar-a-Lago to cover the costs. It’s that or increased taxes for local residents, whose lives are already disrupted by the president’s weekend golf jaunts.

Of course the Trump Administration could reimburse the county and add that to the $3 million in federal tax dollars each Mar-a-Lago trip costs all of us.

More:

“‘He’s baaaack!’: Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago are stretching Palm Beach’s budget and locals’ patience,” Abby Phillip and Lori Rozsa, Washington Post

“Palm Beach official proposes Mar-a-Lago tax to pay for Trump visits,” Brooke Seipe, The Hill

Related:

“Trump has spent one out of every five minutes of his presidency in Palm Beach,” Philip Bump, Washington Post

“GOP Senator: ‘I Do Wish’ Trump Would Host State Visits In DC, Not Mar-A-Lago,” Esme Cribb, TPM Livewire

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