'The rich should pay more' — Bill Gates calls for higher taxes on the wealthy in New Year's Eve blog post

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/bill-gates-calls-tax-hike-wealthy-new-years-eve-blog-2020-1-1028791394

Theron Mohamed
Jan. 2, 2020, 08:36 AM

Billionaire Bill Gates wants rich people to pay higher taxes.

"I've been disproportionately rewarded for the work I've done," the Microsoft founder and philanthropist said in a blog post titled "What I'm thinking about this New Year's Eve."

"The rich should pay more than they currently do, and that includes Melinda and me," Gates added, referring to his wife and cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

•••••

The government primarily taxes labor, but it should tax capital more. It earns about 75% of its revenue by taxing wags and salaries at up to 37%, while taxing investments — which generate the bulk of rich people's incomes — at 20% if they're held for more than a year.

"That's the clearest evidence I've seen that the system isn't fair," Gates wrote. "I don't see any reason to favor wealth over work the way we do today."

•••••

Gates pointed out that higher taxes didn't dissuade him from founding and building a business.

"In the 1970s, when Paul Allen and I were starting Microsoft, marginal tax rates were almost twice the top rate today," he wrote. "It didn't hurt our incentive to build a great company."