I think taxes should be based on a 5-year rolling average, to ease the burden for people who have high income only once in their life. Winning the lottery or patenting an invention that makes you rich is the American dream. Let's tax high earners but show some lenience for folks who have a once in a lifetime windfall.

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[–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

I agree this is, and should be, an unpopular opinion.

If I get some money for doing nothing, a windfall, then getting half of it is still me getting free money.

If I work for ten years to get the same amount, shouldn't I pay less in taxes? I spent my time and effort making that money.

Usually anyone who gets rich quick either ripped people off, inherited or won money and I would tax anything unearned at a higher rate than earned.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 week ago*

    You're comparing something different to what I am saying. In my scenario there is a guy who earns $1 million every year for 40 years and there is a guy who earns like $30,000 every year but in one year earns $1 million.

    I'm not sure why you are comparing yourself to the guy who makes $1 mil every year, or why you think I'm saying that if you make $100,000 for ten years you should pay more taxes than if you make $1 million in one year. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not advocating for all of us to carry the tax burden for someone who wins Powerball and takes home $50 mil.

    Edit: if you support a wealth tax then you support the same thing I advocate for. With a wealth tax if you earn an extreme amount over your lifetime you pay more. With my opinion, it's the same thing, but if you earn a moderate amount over your lifetime, you should pay less (even if most of your earnings occurred in one year)

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