this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2025
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Not if you're a billionaire with an electric car company.
Not at all. Musk is well known for having paid over $11,000,000,000 in taxes in a single year.
https://americansfortaxfairness.org/musks-11-billion-tax-bill-big-news-just-10-wealth-increase-far-year/
Yep, that is how capital gains works for everyone, including you and me. You pay taxes on them when you sell, when you have income.
You and me cant use those unseen capital gains as collateral to buy a propaganda machine.
Put a percentage of every paycheck into an index fund (ex: VTI) and sit on them for a few years. You too will have capital gains.
Average returns on index funds are 6%-8%/yr, compounding. They are a solid long-term investment.
What with? My emerald mine money?
A bit silly to go for VTI over VT, the US is in decline and international is accelerating.
Tesla has sold quite a lot, yet paid almost nothing in taxes. So obviously it doesn't work that way for "everyone".
https://itep.org/tesla-reported-zero-federal-income-tax-in-2024/
Tesla is not Musk, yes companies are taxed differently than individuals. Notably by profit, not income.
Musk paid $11b in capital gains tax when he sold, that is how capital gains taxes work for everyone. Same as you and me.