The wealthiest individuals fund their lifestyles by taking out loans using their appreciated stock as collateral, a strategy known as "Buy, Borrow, Die."

The United States taxed capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income under the 1986 Tax Act signed by President Ronald Reagan.

In 2024, the U.S. federal government had revenues of just under $5 trillion and expenditures of $6.8 trillion, resulting in a deficit of over $1.8 trillion.

Jeff Bezos has consistently maintained an annual salary of $82,000, which previously enabled him to claim the child tax credit.

Warren Buffett has never earned more than $100,000 in combined annual salary and bonus.

Ray Madoff proposes repealing the estate tax and instead including inheritances, gifts, and life insurance proceeds in the recipient's taxable income.

As part of a new inheritance tax system, Ray Madoff suggests a lifetime exemption of $1 to $2 million per person, with amounts above that taxed at ordinary income rates.

Ray Madoff proposes that asset appreciation should be taxed when the owner transfers the property, whether by gift or at death, making the transfer a realization event.

Ray Madoff believes a federal wealth tax would likely be found unconstitutional by the current U.S. Supreme Court.

The widely cited statistic that the top 1% of Americans pay 40% of federal income taxes is misleading because it refers to the top 1% of income earners, not wealth holders.

In a recent year cited as 2025, the top 1% of Americans held $55 trillion in wealth, while the estate and gift tax, with a nominal rate of 40%, raised only $28 billion, representing an effective tax r...

The wealthiest Americans, including Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, take very low salaries to minimize their income and payroll tax liabilities.

Ray Madoff argues that the rise of AI will severely challenge the U.S. tax system, as 85% of revenue currently comes from individual labor and payroll taxes which will decline as workers are replaced.

Ray Madoff asserts that Republicans chose not to repeal the estate tax in their 2017 tax bill because its existence provides cover for numerous income tax benefits for the wealthy.

Congress has not closed a single loophole in the U.S. estate tax since 1990.

In the early 1990s, a campaign funded by 18 of the wealthiest U.S. families and advised by Frank Luntz successfully rebranded the "estate tax" as the "death tax" to turn public opinion against it.