Bill Gates' Tax Bill

Jordan Hayes jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com
Mon Jun 22 17:35:30 PDT 1998


bautiste at uswest.net asks:


> Does anyone know when/if Gates will ever pay taxes on his $51B?

Most of his net worth is in unrealized gains on MSFT stock. He has a policy of divesting 1% of his holdings per quarter, so he is continually (but for another 20 years or so!) paying taxes on his gains.


> What is the loophole he uses to get out of paying tax on this?

In the US at least, there's no such thing as a wealth tax; you only pay taxes on certain kinds of transactions. A capital gain is one such kind of transaction.

/jordan



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