Calvin H. Johnson (Texas), The Wonderful Mark-to-Market Tax, 173 Tax Notes Fed. 1227 (Nov. 29, 2021):

Whatever its role in the current U.S. budget decisions, the proposal for mark-to-market taxation is a wonderful idea, so good to be inevitable — at some point. Mark-to-market taxation would tax shareholders on the annual gain from publicly traded stock even when those gains have not been reduced to cash. …

Both accounting and economics define income to include mark-to-market gains. The 16th Amendment specifically authorizes a tax on income. That alone is sufficient.

Bezos’s tax return reports basic salary that is only one two-millionth of his economic income. It’s time to apply the income tax to our billionaires’ real income.