hjmann.com Blog

Mark Cuban suggests that we should tax stock trades 10 cents per share. My reply below:

Mark,

This is not as well thought-out as most of your posts are. And it’s a lousy idea.

At a macro level, if you are so unconcerned about the amount taxes cost, then I am sure you will be publishing your 2007 tax return, wherein we will find that you have waived every deduction and simply paid the full amount of taxes.

We both know that won’t happen. You don’t manage your money this way, so why should you expect anyone else to?

When people speak of “limousine liberals” they are talking about people who behave exactly this way. Al Gore who screams about the environment and has a swimming pool that costs $2000 a month to heat; George Clooney who drives his Prius to the airport and then boards a private jet which then spews pollution and burns way more fuel; people like you who are so wealthy taxes would have very minimal impact prescribing tax increases for everyone.

At a micro level, 401k accounts are made up of mutual funds which are made up of stocks. I already pay 1% per year management fee for 401k account. Many people pay more. This will certainly drive up that cost at a time when almost no one can afford any further impact to their account.

And, when you are talking about a stock below $10, and this is where most small investors first look, this is more than a 1% tax… on top of the 15%-20% people already pay in cap gains.

A horrible idea. Sorry Mark.

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