Most tax experts would vote against California’s billionaire tax
Survey shows 70% of tax scholars would reject the proposed wealth tax on billionaires.
The story
A survey of tax scholars found that 70% would vote against California's proposed billionaire tax, with concerns about enforceability and potential revenue loss.
Source: fortune.com
Our reading
A tax scholar who would vote against a billionaire tax is not the same as a billionaire who would vote against a tax. The survey shows that the people who study taxes for a living are more likely to oppose the very thing they’re paid to understand.
It’s not that they’re against taxing the rich—they’re against taxing the rich in a way that might not work, or that might make the rich leave. Which is to say, they’re against the idea of a tax that could be undermined by the people it’s meant to target.
So the next time a tax scholar says a policy is bad, it might not be because they’re in the pocket of the wealthy. It might be because they’ve seen the wealthy move, and they’ve seen the tax go with them.
