May 22, 2026
Tax math, comment meltdown
How to convert between wealth and income tax
That “tiny” 1% tax just got roasted as a stealth 20% money grab
TLDR: The article’s bombshell is that a 1% wealth tax may feel more like a 20% tax on money earned from investments, which makes “just 1%” sound a lot less harmless. Commenters split hard between people calling it basic math and people saying, bluntly, that the rich should pay far more anyway.
A seemingly dry math post about taxes turned into a full-on comment war, because the big claim is wildly simple and extremely provocative: a 1% tax on wealth can work out like a 20% tax on investment income if your money grows at about 5% a year. In plain English, the article says politicians talk about a "mere 1%" wealth tax like it’s pocket change, when it may actually hit a lot harder than the slogan suggests. And yes, the comments instantly went nuclear.
One camp treated the post like a much-needed reality check, arguing that politicians and voters are being sold a feel-good phrase without understanding the bill. Another camp was absolutely not having it. The angriest replies basically said: spare us the violin music for billionaires. One commenter sneered, “Fuck off paul,” before arguing the ultra-rich already dodge income taxes and should be hit even harder. That set the mood: this was less “interesting tax debate” and more class-war cage match.
Then came the side quests. One person suggested replacing income tax with a wealth tax so only rich people pay. Another dropped a brain-bending life-hack: if you multiply your salary by 20, that’s roughly the pile of money you’d need invested to replace your job income—meaning your ability to earn is basically your biggest asset. And for extra spice, one commenter flipped the article’s own wording back at the author, mocking him with a “you don’t understand what you’re talking about” clapback. The math may be tidy, but the comments were pure chaos.
Key Points
- •The article says the equivalent income-tax rate for a wealth tax is found by dividing the wealth-tax rate by the rate of return on capital.
- •Using a 5% risk-free rate of return, the article calculates that a 1% wealth tax is equivalent to a 20% income tax on capital income.
- •A worked example with $100 of capital shows both a 20% income tax on a 5% return and a 1% wealth tax leave the investor with $104 after one year.
- •The article argues that the risk-free rate should be used in the conversion because the wealth-tax obligation is certain once imposed.
- •Using cited rates for Denmark, the US federal system, and Oklahoma, the article says the income-tax-equivalent burden would push the median combined US marginal rate to 61.75%.