By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
Bill Gates points out that the wealth gap has been staggeringly growing in the last few years and is much greater than 50 years back. Thus, he vouches for a higher taxation rule for the ultra-rich to balance income inequality.
Microsoft co-founder and billionaire, Bill Gates has a new wish this year and for the next decade starting 2020. In his new year’s wish, Bill Gates asks the government to increase the taxes on the rich.
Off lately, Bill Gates has been quite vocal about tweaking the country’s taxation system wherein the ultra-rich pay more taxes to balance the growing income inequality. Therefore, he endorses a tax system that favors “taxing large fortunes that have been held for a long time”. In his latest blog post, Bill Gates wrote:
“Very wealthy people often have large investments they’ve held for long periods, and if those investments aren’t sold or traded, that money is never taxed. That doesn’t make sense.”
Besides, the Microsoft founder and now philanthropist thinks that he has been disproportionately rewarded for his work. Thus, he asks the government to significantly raise the capital gains tax and the estate tax. Furthermore, he stresses that the government should plug all the loopholes to dodge the tax system.
Bill Gates said that he wants to see an end to the widening income gap. As a result, he demands for building a wealthier and more equitable world for all.
“I’ve been disproportionately rewarded for the work I’ve done — while many others who work just as hard struggle to get by,” he wrote. “That’s why I’m for a tax system in which, if you have more money, you pay a higher percentage in taxes. And I think the rich should pay more than they currently do, and that includes Melinda and me.”
Gates’ Pledge for Charity
Over the last few years, Bill Gates has been much active in philanthropy causes. He has donated billions of dollars to improve healthcare, education, and fight poverty across the globe. Simultaneously, his wealth has increased manifold times these years with rising stock prices.
Currently, Bill Gates is the world’s second-richest person after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with a net worth of $113 billion. Back in 2010, along with Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates pledge to donate massive portions of their wealth for societal causes.
Bill Gates firmly believes that the government should leave it to the wealthy to volunteer for paying more taxes. He said:
“Leaving it up to people to give more than the government asks for is not a scalable solution. Additional voluntary giving will never raise enough money for everything the government needs to do.”
The billionaire also says that the tax structures should be such that they do not harm innovation. He added:
“I believe we can make our system fairer without sacrificing the incentive to innovate. Americans in the top 1% can afford to pay a lot more before they stop going to work or creating jobs. In the 1970s, when Paul Allen and I were starting Microsoft, marginal tax rates were almost twice the top rate today. It didn’t hurt our incentive to build a great company.”