In theory, but if he tried to liquidate all of his Amazon stock at once it's very unlikely he would get that much for it. The price of the stock would crash.

[–] sibachian@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

except in theory they can borrow from the bank with their stock as leverage and would never actually need to liquidate anything (and they do just that).

[–] cbarrick@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Yep. This fucking loophole in the American tax system.

You borrow against your existing wealth, then the cost basis of your investments resets upon inheritance. So your estate can sell the investment to pay off the debt, and no capital gains tax is ever paid.

Because of this, in America, capital gains tax only applies to the middle class. The rich have a clear and obvious loophole.