"-If I was a billionaire I would not be in America right now."

First-who cares about the gold card. If you have five million to spend on legal residency, you probably meet all the requirements for legal residency anyways. This is just a way to get money from those people. So again, who cares. It's not like they are going to be a burden on society.

#83

Do you ever think about what you write? Or do you just go full Trump and spout whatever is on your mind?

Nothing you wrote is even remotely intelligent, and certainly not true.

The wealthy have been paying your fair share of the taxes for decades. The difference between you and I is that I recognize and appreciate it, while you think they should be paying for your vacays and lattes in addition to your taxes.

"Thanks to decades of Republican tax cuts, the wealthy pay less in taxes than I do."

I know you really would like to think that's the case, budditznot. At least not according to those reactionary bourgeoise capitalist pigs at the IRS.

The top 1% paid an average rate of 26%, covering 42.3% of the total federal income tax burden. The average tax amount was $458,894.

In comparison, you and your peers in the bottom 50% had an average rate of 3.1%, covering 2.3% of the total federal income tax burden, with an average federal income tax bill of $504. The notes state that the burden on lower income earners is overrated, as refunds are not factored into these totals.

Numbers are from 2020. The last year Trump was in office.

"A lot of wealthy people don't pay taxes."

few, if any poor people pay taxes.

"Trump bragged not paying taxes means he's smart."

I pay very little in taxes. The first $128k of my income is non-taxable through the overseas exemption. The rest of it is taxable, but I generally have deductions that reduce it way down.

#89

Did you read the article you referenced?

You do realize the "tax rates" you listed were not actual tax rates, right? But rather the percentage of the tax payment when compared to total assets?

You don't pay tax on wealth. You pay tax on income. But I guess it's what one would expect from a website called "inequality.org."

But if you really want to make a point, find out what the average tax rates were for those demographics. That would be meaningful.

An O-6 is a field grade rank. Not a General/Flag officer rank.

I retired as an O-5. Had I been an O-6 with my time in grade, I would have been earning $13,596 per month. Plus, an additional $2400 per month in housing allowance, plus an additional sum for Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). For me that ranged form $300 some months to upwards of $900.

Had I been a general, I would have been making $18,808. Generals don't get housing allowance because they live in special houses.

And I'm not in the military anymore. Government employees and Service Members are ineligible for the overseas tax exemption.

"I always find it amusing when folks scramble around for "the facts" to justify trumpian lies."

What Corky posted isn't incorrect, but it's not a tax rate. So it's not something you can compare to other tax rates.

"I would really love to see a list of who actually pays $5 million dollars just to be an American in today's America."

Nobody. If they had that kind of money and wanted to live in the US, they already have everything they need to do so without Trump's gold card. My $.02.

"Bird Colonel?"

No.

That is an O-6.

I retired as a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5). I was still a nobody.

"How does one become such an enormous ass kiss? Is it your lack of basic math knowledge?"

How does one become so blind to the obvious.

Let's do this. Would you prefer a country where millionaires were not permitted to exist?

"IOW it's okay to buy your way in but not come through the back door?"

Yes. It's always been that way.

The US is a little bit different, but most countries won't let you live there without showing that you are able to support yourself and provide for your own necessities.

That's why this is so strange. Unless policy changes, wealthy people could move to the US without paying $5 million for a gold card. When you do a cost-benefit analysis, what's the point? It's not taxes. If you're a citizen of another country, you're probably going to be expected to pay taxes there, although there may be some exceptions. It's not geography. CONUS beaches are garbage. Most of the south and midwest are completely undesirable. And the nicer places in the US are significantly nicer that what you would find in Europe.

The only place I see this having any impact would be for multinational corporations who would want to position key company leaders in the US without having to screw around with leaving the country every couple of months to reset their visa.