Data That Should Shock No One Points to $8.5 Trillion in Untaxed 2022 Income for Mega-Rich Americans

Meanwhile, the average person is faced with a federal minimum wage of less than eight bucks an hour.

January 5, 2024

a bunch of money is shown — Image via Getty/Ihor Lukianenko

There are no rules for the mega-rich. Never have been, never will be.

The pandemic has proven that, as has the occasional breakdown on just how stupidly rich the preposterously wealthy really are here in the States. For the latest example, we turn to a recently released report revealing "at least” $8.5 trillion in unrealized capital gains among rich people in the U.S. who were worth $100 million or more in 2022.

First, what the fuck is an unrealized gain? Here's how Investopedia defines it:

"An unrealized gain is a theoretical profit that exists on paper, resulting from an investment that has not yet been sold for cash."

Furthermore, such gains aren't presently at risk of being taxed; in fact, taxability only enters the picture once these types of assets (including stock and gold, for example) are realized, i.e. sold.

The figure cites data from the Federal Reserve and comes from Americans for Tax Fairness, a campaign from the liberal-leaning New Venture Fund that pushes for “a fair tax system that works for all Americans.”

Also noted in the report, published earlier this week, is that roughly 18 percent of all unrealized gains in the U.S. belong to approximately 64,000 mega-rich households. Such individuals or families, unshockingly, make up less than 0.05 percent of the total population.

While political pushes such as the proposed Billionaires Income Tax and the similarly named Billionaires Minimum Income Tax have made headlines in recent months, most of the lawmakers tasked with making such calls are themselves part of the wealthy class, thus underlining the futility of it all.

Perhaps someone should consider inviting Cecil the dog over to the homes of the mega-rich the next time he’s hankering for a cash snack.