There are many questions that don’t have simple answers, either because they’re too complex or they’re hypothetical. One such question is what it might mean for billionaires to pay taxes at the same rate as the upper middle class, whose income starts, on average, at around $168,000, depending on where you live.
Find Out: I Asked ChatGPT What Would Happen If Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the Middle Class
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ChatGPT may not be an oracle, but it can analyze information and offer trends and patterns, so I asked it what would happen if billionaires were required to pay anywhere near as much as the upper middle class. Here’s what it said.
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A Fatter Government Larder
For starters, ChatGPT said that if billionaires paid taxes like the upper middle class, the government would bring in a lot more money — potentially hundreds of billions of dollars more every year. “That’s because most billionaires don’t make their money from salaries like upper-middle-class workers do. Instead, they grow their wealth through investments–stocks, real estate, and businesses–which are often taxed at much lower rates or not taxed at all until the assets are sold,” ChatGPT told me.
Billionaire income is largely derived from capital appreciation, not wages. In other words, they make money on their money through interest. And as of yet, the U.S. tax code doesn’t tax “unrealized capital gains” so until you sell your assets, you could amass millions in appreciation and not pay a dime on it, ChatGPT shared.
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What Do Billionaires Pay in Taxes?
Right now, many billionaires pay an effective tax rate of around 8% or less, thanks to loopholes and tax strategies. Meanwhile, upper-middle-class households earning, say, $250,000 might pay around 20% to 24% of their income in taxes. (Keep in mind that the government doesn’t apply one tax bracket to all income. You pay tax in layers, according to the IRS. As your income goes up, the tax rate on the next layer of income is higher. So you pay 12% on the first $47,150, then 22% on $47,151 to $100,525 and so on).
So, if billionaires were taxed at the same rate as those upper-middle-class wage earners, “it would level the playing field–and raise a ton of revenue that could be used for things like infrastructure, education or healthcare,” ChatGPT said.
The Impact on Wealth Equality
I wondered if taxing billionaires could have any kind of impact on wealth equality, as well. While it wouldn’t put more money in other people’s pockets, “it could increase trust in the tax system, showing that the wealthiest aren’t playing by a different set of rules,” ChatGPT said.
It would also help curb “the accumulation of dynastic wealth,” where the richest families essentially hoard wealth for generations without contributing proportionally to the system.
But it’s not a magic bullet. “Wealth inequality is rooted in more than just taxes–wages, education access, housing costs, and corporate ownership all play a role,” ChatGPT said.
Billionaires paying taxes doesn’t stop them from being billionaires, either, it pointed out.
Taxing Billionaires Is Not That Simple
While in theory billionaires paying higher taxes “would shift a much bigger share of the tax burden onto the very wealthy,” ChatGPT wrote, billionaires are not as liquid as they may seem.
“A lot of billionaire wealth is tied up in things like stocks they don’t sell, so taxing that would require big changes to how the tax code works.”
Also, billionaires are good at finding loopholes and account strategies — it might be hard to enforce.
What’s a Good Middle Ground?
We don’t live in a black and white world, however. There’s got to be a middle ground, so I asked ChatGPT if there is a way to tax billionaires more, even if it’s not quite how the upper middle class are taxed.
A likely compromise would come from a policy decision, which isn’t likely to be forthcoming anytime soon. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill only offered more tax breaks to the wealthiest. However, policy proposals that have been floated, include:
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A minimum tax on billionaires where they might pay around 20% of their overall income
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Limiting deductions and closing tax loopholes that allow them to significantly reduce taxable income
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Tax unrealized gains (those assets that have only earned but not yet been sold), gradually.
ChatGPT agreed that billionaires could pay more than they currently do, even if they don’t pay exactly what upper-middle-class workers pay in percentage terms. “The key is to design policies that are fair, enforceable, and politically feasible.”
I asked how realistic such policy proposals are, and ChatGPT told me what I already knew: They’re “moderately realistic” but only with the “right political alignment.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I Asked ChatGPT What Would Happen If Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the Upper Middle Class
