Billionaire Tom Golisano says the Warren wealth tax would be 'triple taxation

<p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/6041096f2dc9010018355630-1000/Copy of Untitled Design.png" border="0" alt="Copy of Untitled Design" data-mce-source="AP Photo/David Duprey; Drew Angerer/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Billionaire Tom Golisano; Senator Elizabeth Warren."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Billionaire Tom Golisano, born in Rochester, New York, ditched his native state for Florida in 2009 in order to save on taxes. He told Insider that if Senator Elizabeth Warren's proposed wealth tax passes, he might leave the US altogether.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-propose-ultra-millionaire-tax-on-wealthiest-americans-2021-3">Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act</a> would apply to 0.05% of American households. It would place a 2% tax on household net worth between $50 million and $1 billion, and a 3% tax on household net worth over $1 billion.</p><p>For Golisano, worth $4.1 billion per <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/tom-golisano/'sh=37add0299d3e">Forbes</a>, he would be liable for $112 million in taxes, according to <a href="https://elizabethwarren.com/calculator/ultra-millionaire-tax">Warren's Ultra-Millionaire Tax Calculator</a>. Most of his net worth consists of 37.5 million shares of Paychex, the payroll services giant that he founded in 1971.&nbsp;</p><p>"In order to pay that amount of tax in my situation, I'd have to liquidate a lot of equity positions," Golisano, 79, said. "And then because I'm liquidating equity positions, I'm also going to have to pay more capital gains tax on the amount I liquefy so I can pay the new tax. It's not only dragging up my total taxation picture, but it has also created a new one because of the capital gains tax on the money I would have to raise to be able to pay the wealth tax."</p><p>He also argued that the wealth tax would amount to triple taxation on dividends from Paychex, which distributes 80% of its net earnings to shareholders.</p><p>"Here we are in a situation where we pay corporate income tax, and then we extend what's left to our shareholders in the form of dividends. It's double taxation to start with," he said.</p><p>"Now, if you start taxing people on their net worth, in a lot of cases, it's going to be triple taxation. Your net worth is what you have left after you paid both corporate taxes and the dividend tax. You don't want to go to three levels of taxation on the same dollars. We should be a little embarrassed."</p><p>Golisano balked at the proposed 40% exit tax that would be levied on individuals renouncing US citizenship to avoid the wealth tax: "So much for the free country concept."</p><p>He is not the only billionaire to criticize the wealth tax. Wall Street legend Leon Cooperman said it has "no merit" and is "foolish" to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/billionaire-leon-cooperman-speaks-out-wealth-tax-elizabeth-warren-cnbc-2021-3-1030146859">CNBC</a> on Wednesday. But there are members of the ultra-wealthy who believe that higher taxation on their peers is necessary.&nbsp;</p><p>"This is not a policy I've been advocating for out of altruism," wealth tax advocate and millionaire heir Ian Simmons told <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millionaires-liesel-pritzker-ian-simmons-want-covid-19-wealth-tax-2020-9">Insider</a>&nbsp;in September. "We're advocating for this policy because we think it's the smartest one in the country for the longterm and the smart one for future generations of our family."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dan-price-wants-wealth-tax-for-washington-state-2021-2" >CEO Dan Price is worth millions and pays all his employees at least $70,000 a year. He's begging the state to tax him more.</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/janet-yellen-taxes-treasury-secretary-wealth-tax-implementation-capital-gains-2021-2" >Janet Yellen's Treasury sees a wealth tax as too hard to implement, but she has other ideas on what to change</a></strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/4-european-countries-wealth-tax-spain-norway-switzerland-belgium-2019-11" >4 European countries still have a wealth tax. Here's how much success they've each had.</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-tom-golisano-warren-wealth-tax-triple-taxation-2021-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-floor-much-deeper-humans-understand-animation-2017-3">This incredible animation shows how deep the ocean really is</a></p>
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