Comment by thaumasiotes

Comment by thaumasiotes 8 days ago

6 replies

Well, a larger issue seems to be that this whole idea is premised on taxing an unrealized gain. If I create a painting, I don't owe any taxes on it until I sell it. If the world decides that I'm Picasso and my sneezing on a canvas means it's worth $50 million, it still won't be true that, after I sneeze without covering my mouth and some spittle lands on one of my blank canvases, a government official shows up to my house to force me to sell it so that I can pay the taxes I owe for creating it.

xlii 7 days ago

IMO this is the best definition.

Especially since even in semantics we call highly successful companies „unicorns”. Because it’s rare. Usually software is worthless, whatever quality.

I failed my own software company twice. If such politic would be in effect I couldn’t even try once.

sethherr 8 days ago

While I understand the drawbacks, the current situation - where the ultra-wealthy don’t pay taxes because all their wealth is in unrealized gain - is even worse

  • freeone3000 7 days ago

    This valuation of software for business taxes. If a business never sells its software, the software may very well have no value.

    • sahila 7 days ago

      What about an internal tool that helps improves processes but doesn't ever sell or google.com and gmail which are free to users?

  • thaumasiotes 8 days ago

    > the current situation - where the ultra-wealthy don’t pay taxes because all their wealth is in unrealized gain

    This is neither the current situation nor even a theoretical possibility.