Nordic counties, everyone's tax returns can be viewed by the public

[May90]

I don't think the two are related. Perhaps, more due to US culture surrounding business practices...for whatever reason, we view CEO salaries as justified, or we don't care enough about the issue to do anything about it. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the myth that higher income is necessarily tied to skill/effort, when that is not necessarily the case.

I don't think it should have anything to do with justice, it is just an open market: someone is willing to pay a lot for a qualified CEO, and some CEO matches these criterion and agrees - basic business deal. And, let's not undermine it, CEO, actually, have to work pretty darn hard: even if the number of working hours for them might be less than the average, the amount of work they put in in those hours can be insanely high - just look at the meeting schedule of the Microsoft CEO, it is very intense.

However, indeed, the economy suffers because of it. There are quite a few solutions I can think of. For example, a system could be implemented according to which one person cannot have a net income more than $500k a year; if they do, then the surplus has to be distributed among other workers in this company. So, people like Balmer, rather than making a billion a year, would instead make $500k a year (way more than enough for a luxurious life anyway), and the rest of their income would be paid to other Microsoft workers.

[Grim Retailer]

Only on earned income, so in the presented scenario, he or she would be paying tax on the interest from his or her accounts. Regardless, I find the policy in question to be a severe breach of decorum and privacy.

It is unlikely that he'd have the entire 150 000 000 in cash. He'd be getting income from the interest, dividends from his stocks and bonds, and rent from his properties. Also, he'd have to pay tax on the fortune, even if it is only 0,1 %.

[Deleted]

Uh no.

That person who made $150 million and retired has already paid their tax. In the US at least, they'd even pay more than someone who made $150 million over several years thanks to the skewed tax brackets.

Yeah, keep believing in fairy tales. In reality if one can earn such money he's also good at avoiding taxes.

Remember that Apple efficient tax rate at 0.005%? Its $50 out of every million!

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BTW survey question is put in wrong way. It should be

Would you like other people tax returns made public?

[Shakadam]

There's like the "top 10 earners" published in tabloids once a year but other than that I've no experience at all with this even though I live in Finland. I've never heard of anyone actually using this service nor have I ever heard anyone care about it.

[Dezerte]

Like the guy in the video mentions, it isn't as simple to access this data as one might presume based on the thread title. It's technically possible, yes, but I think it's more the knowledge itself, that it can be accessed by anyone which serves as a small deterrent to tax evasion.

[Grim Retailer]

Yeah, keep believing in fairy tales. In reality if one can earn such money he's also good at avoiding taxes.

Remember that Apple efficient tax rate at 0.005%? Its $50 out of every million!

Um...thats kind of the point? You know? That we are discussing? He can avoid taxes, but if he does, everyone whose opinion he cares about will know. Thats what we've been talking about. Its why the income and tax is made public.

Also, while company taxes are lower in Norway, they are also harder to dodge.

[Revi]

I'm massively against this. It seems to be great for tabloids to discuss the income of celebrities every year, but that's about it. I've seen no reason to think it reduces tax evasion/avoidance.

A lot of people consider their finances private. It's not the governments place to publicize it in detail.

[Theinquisition]

It is fine if they want to do it. But here in the US, it is no one's business how much they make or give to charity with the exception of the IRS. The only salary which is and should be made public is if it is from a public paid job.

Agreed, how much I earn is between the gov't and me.

People need to mind their own business

[Captain N]

I don't see the issue in this. I already know what my co-workers make generally and it assists us in negotiating our CBA every couple years. Transparency with taxes also might help people understand how progressive taxation and deductions work instead of parroting the same garbage about how they think working into the next tax bracket will somehow damage their earnings.

[INVASMANIXOXOXO]

It is unlikely that he'd have the entire 150 000 000 in cash. He'd be getting income from the interest, dividends from his stocks and bonds, and rent from his properties. Also, he'd have to pay tax on the fortune, even if it is only 0,1 %.

This his false, you don't have to pay taxes on cash, or a lot of other assets. Some assets like property do have property taxes though. But if your assets say double in value, you have to pay capital gains tax on the difference between the buying and selling price (assuming you made a profit, if you lost money I think you can actually deduct a little bit of that from other taxes in some circumstances).

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Agreed, how much I earn is between the gov't and me.

People need to mind their own business

And share holders in the company, if you are deriving your income from a company that you don't own 100%.

[Deleted]

I don't think the two are related. Perhaps, more due to US culture surrounding business practices...for whatever reason, we view CEO salaries as justified, or we don't care enough about the issue to do anything about it. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the myth that higher income is necessarily tied to skill/effort, when that is not necessarily the case.

Personally I view CEO salaries as completely unjustified.

I think transparency in income is a good thing, you can use that information to negotiate a raise at your place of employment. If Sally in your department is making twice the pay you are, slacks off most of the time and has been working there half the time you have, wouldn't you want to know about it?

I think they usually are related (skill and wage), but I think the wages are still too high and too low for most other people, as a matter of fact.

[Theinquisition]

This his false, you don't have to pay taxes on cash, or a lot of other assets. Some assets like property do have property taxes though. But if your assets say double in value, you have to pay capital gains tax on the difference between the buying and selling price (assuming you made a profit, if you lost money I think you can actually deduct a little bit of that from other taxes in some circumstances).

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And share holders in the company, if you are deriving your income from a company that you don't own 100%.

Agreed. I can agree with that.

[ParanoiD84]

Feel free to check and see how much i care lol.

[Grim Retailer]

This his false, you don't have to pay taxes on cash, or a lot of other assets.

Not true. Formueskatt. Net wealth tax.

Some assets like property do have property taxes though. But if your assets say double in value, you have to pay capital gains tax on the difference between the buying and selling price (assuming you made a profit, if you lost money I think you can actually deduct a little bit of that from other taxes in some circumstances).

Its more complicated than that. You're only liable for taxes if you realize profits, and dividends, interest etc are taxed differently from the liquidation of assets. Also, different assets have different rules. Property gains are not taxed if you've lived in the property for a certain number of years, and stocks have what is called a skjermingsfradrag, meaning only gains above a certain amount per stock are taxable. However, losses are tax-deductible from the first krone.

Meanwhile, property taxes are municipal taxes, so some places have big ones and some have none.

[Shadowferal]

Well, it might come as a surprise but here in the US Tax Assessor records are public anyway.