[KyleTheDev]

Sort of agree, yea. The issue is we allow high wealth individuals to use their assets as collateral for low interest loans, without having that be a taxable event. They can cash in on their equity, effectively withdrawing from their stake in these companies, and avoid taxes altogether.

I think just closing this loophole, and having personal loans over a certain % that are backed by specific equities (stocks, land, etc), be taxable. This fixes the loophole, in that they now need to pay taxes on these loans, on top of interest. It would incentivize them to then increase their base pay, where they'd pay income tax like the rest of us.

[rickydroll]

I agree with you on closing the loophole. However, I would count any money taken through this loophole as income. Another limit I would remove is the current limit on Social Security/medicare taxes. It doesn't matter how much you make; you should pay that tax.

[tstrimple]

I and many other HN participants are in the privileged few who would actually see higher taxes from that change in SS and Medicare taxation. I'm on board. But most probably are not. It is weird and still somewhat foreign to me that my paycheck increases in the late fall / early winter. I appreciate the extra money coming in, but realistically it wouldn't make a material difference in my life if it didn't.