Listen, no one likes paying taxes. That’s essentially money being taken out of our paychecks, money taken out from our companies, money that could be used for ourselves. But unfortunately, that’s not how the world works. So it’s not really surprising to see Google co-founder Sergey Brin campaigning against a proposed billionaire tax.
Sergey Brin donates millions against billionaire tax proposal
Speaking to The New York Times, Sergey Brin spoke out against the state of California’s proposed billionaire tax. He compared the proposal to the socialist ideologies held by the Soviet Union at that time. He said that was the reason his family fled the country, and expressed concern that this is the direction California is heading.
According to Brin, “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don’t want California to end up in the same place.” As part of his campaign against the proposal, Brin has donated $57 million towards Building a Better California.
This is a nonprofit that targets “any and all new taxes on personal property,” which counters the proposal. He’s not alone in his criticism of the proposal. Other prominent wealthy figures such as Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, Palantir chairman Peter Thiel, and Y Combinator’s Garry Tan have expressed similar criticisms.
What is the proposal about?
In case you’re unfamiliar with the “2026 Billionaire Tax Act,” it’s basically a proposal that aims to tax the wealthy. This would tax billionaires a one-time 5% tax on their accumulated wealth. The money would then be used to fund other state programs, such as food assistance and public education.
However, the issue here is the one-time 5% tax. Most of us are taxed on what we earn in the financial year. So if you lose your job or your company’s business is bad, you pay less taxes for that year. In this case, the 5% tax would be based on the accumulated wealth. Meaning it doesn’t matter what they earned that year, if they own $1 billion in assets, they would be taxed on that.
It’s a bit of an oversimplification, but that’s the general gist of it. It’s also why many billionaires are against it, especially after spending decades figuring out tax and business loopholes to get out of paying as much tax as possible.
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