United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby advocates for a national wealth tax and an inheritance tax approaching 100% on amounts exceeding a threshold.My response is simple: Washington should not become the principal beneficiary of the American Dream.According to reporting highlighted by Fox Business, Kirby believes wealth inequality requires a national response.He has every right to make that argument.
But a proposal to confiscate nearly everything above a government-determined threshold deserves a forceful challenge.LET SOCIALISTS ROB FROM THE RICH 100% AND YOU STILL WON’T BE ABLE TO PAY THE BILLSThe ability to build something and leave it to your family is one of the most powerful incentives in our economy.Treating that aspiration as a social problem would send America in precisely the wrong direction.United CEO Scott Kirby wants both a wealth tax and a near-100% estate tax.
(United Airlines)As the founder of Engineered Tax Services, I have spent my career working with people who build businesses, invest in communities and create jobs.Their wealth often exists in operating companies, buildings, equipment and ownership interests.
Those assets are productive — and frequently illiquid.NEWSOM BEGS CALIFORNIANS TO VOTE 'NO' ON BILLIONAIRE'S TAX IN FACE OF MASS EXODUS, PITCHES NATIONWIDE TAX HIKEA business valuation does not mean a business owner has that amount sitting in a checking account.Yet an annual wealth tax could demand cash based on an estimated asset value, even when the owner has received no corresponding income.
Where does the money come from?Depending on the rules, owners could have to borrow, sell assets or withdraw capital from their businesses.Money that might have funded equipment, expansion or hiring could instead go toward paying a tax on continued ownership.
Supporters must explain why that tradeoff would serve the workers whose opportunities depend on those investments.FORMER WASHINGTON GOVERNOR RIPS HER OWN PARTY FOR PUSHING MILLIONAIRES OUTThe in...