The Rattner-Tilson-Scaramucci Tax, or the Buffett Tax

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2012/11/the-rattner-tilson-scaramucci-tax-or-the-buffett

My column for this week responds to the "tax me more" crowd by suggesting adding a "voluntary additional tax" or VAT line to the federal tax return:

Call it the Rattner-Tilson-Scaramucci Tax, or the Buffett Tax. The instruction lines could read something like, "If you think carried interest is an egregious and indefensible loophole, please enter the additional tax you would owe on your own carried interest if it were taxed as ordinary income here. And if you think the capital gains rate should more than double, please enter the additional tax you would owe here, too. Remember, this means you think the politicians and their lobbyist friends can spend this money better than you can invest it, spend it, or give it away yourself, or that you think for some reason that the politicians are not going to spend this money but are really going to use it for debt reduction."

Please check out the whole column at Reason here, at Newsmax here, or at the New York Sun here.

by Editor  |  Nov 26, 2012 at 5:22 pm Related Topics:  Steven Rattner, Taxes, Warren Buffett receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list