Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Bill Gates is in favor of raising some taxes, but says that some proposals seem to go too far.
The government “has to do more – health care costs, recovery from the pandemic, climate investments, generosity of foreign aid,” said the billionaire on Friday during a question and answer session “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit. “So I have been pushing for some higher taxes. I disagree with some proposals that seem to go too far ”.
The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. he considered taxes an “important” issue, but he did not mention any tax proposals during the exchange.
His comments follow a series of wealth taxes proposed at the state and national levels. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed this month the Ultra Millionaire Tax Act, which would impose a 2% annual fee on families and trusts valued at between $ 50 million and $ 1 billion. Any net worth above $ 1 billion would be taxed at 3%, costing the richest 100 Americans about $ 78 billion, according to an analysis by Bloomberg. The bill is unlikely to go far in a narrowly divided Congress.
Read: Bill Gates criticizes Warren’s income tax plan
Gates is the third richest person in the world, with a fortune of $ 138 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He had previously been called upon to raise taxes on the wealthy to combat growing inequality, including a blog post at the end of 2019 that suggested closing loopholes and increasing the capital gains tax to match the rate on labor income. He said on the Reddit forum that raising real estate taxes can be an effective tool for increasing revenue and avoiding dynastic wealth.
During the forum, he also expressed doubts about the introduction of a universal basic income, an idea that gained some support during the pandemic and was promoted by Andrew Yang during his long presidential race.
“We are getting richer as we innovate, but I question whether we are rich enough to discourage people who are able to work,” said Gates. “Over time, we have been more generous and we will be more generous. The discussion about this is very interesting, but it comes down to numbers. “
Other topics covered include:
- Crypto mining:
- “I have a lot of problems with anonymous money transfers compared to assigned systems where you can dispute and reverse transactions and ensure that taxes are paid. The use of electricity is just a problem. We need digital money, but without that overhead. “
- Disinformation, disinformation and false news:
- “Some false information is more interesting than the truth, so digital channels seem to enlarge echo chambers with bad facts. I didn’t see as much creativity as we need to solve this ”.
- Climate denial:
- “The damage in the past has been enormous. Now that the oil companies have stopped financing these things, I think the climate denial will subside. There are questions about how we can reduce emissions, but I hope that all young people will agree that it is a critical goal. “
- If nothing is done about climate change, “things get worse over time and natural ecosystems disappear. The migration away from the non-habitable areas around the equator will be massive. We won’t be able to support a large population if it gets much hotter. “
- Upon reaching zero net emissions by 2050:
- “There is more public support than ever to take major steps to avert a climate disaster. It is inspiring to see governments and companies around the world set ambitious targets to reduce emissions. The inventive power of the world makes me optimistic. “
(Add more comments in the seventh paragraph.)