Winter is Coming... For Your Taxes! Daenerys Targaryen's Take on the House's Latest Fiscal Decree

A Song of Ice and Taxes: The Realm's Coin

Lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms (and beyond!) your Khaleesi has arrived to decipher the latest decrees from the Iron Throne... err the House Ways and Means Committee. It seems someone has extended the 2017 tax cuts for the high earners. They appear at least for now to table President Donald Trump's suggestion to hike the top rate for those making more than $2.5 million. I suppose that's good news for those who hoard their gold like dragons but what about the smallfolk?

Pass Through Income: Is It a Gift or a Curse?

The House text includes a permanent increase in the deduction for pass through income to 23% from 20%. The increase means the effective top tax rate for pass throughs will be about 28.5% compared with the top individual rate of 37%. A growing number of ultra wealthy taxpayers now earn much their income from pass throughs sole proprietorships S Corps and other partnerships. I must confess 'pass through income' sounds as thrilling as a Dornish history lesson. But fear not my loyal subjects! It merely means the wealthy can shield more of their gold from the taxman's grasp. Is this truly just? Or are we merely rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic... I mean the Iron Throne?

SALT: The Spice Must Flow (to the Rich)

Ah SALT! Not the precious commodity I need to preserve my armies' rations but rather state and local tax deductions. The House proposes raising the cap from $10,000 to $30,000 but only for those making less than $400,000. A cunning move wouldn't you agree? A nod to the slightly less wealthy while the truly affluent continue to bathe in their gold.

Estate Tax: The Legacy of Dragons (and Coin)

Now here's a game even Varys would struggle to unravel. The House proposes raising the estate tax exemption to $15 million making it permanent and indexed for inflation. So you mean to tell me those who already have mountains of gold can now pass even MORE of it to their kin without a dragon's hoard of taxes? Where is the justice?! Perhaps I should've spent less time freeing slaves and more time mastering the art of tax loopholes. Hindsight as they say is 20/20.

A Tax Hike in Disguise: The Viper in the Grass

But wait! There's a serpent lurking in this fiscal paradise. It seems high earners who itemize deductions (charity mortgage interest etc.) will face a limit on their benefits. As that Kyle Pomerleau fellow explains the wealthy will only get a deduction benefit of 35 cents for every dollar rather than 37 cents. 'Fire cannot kill a dragon,' but apparently a cleverly worded tax code can certainly singe its scales.

Private Foundations: Cutting Off the Hand That Feeds

And finally a tax on private foundations! A 5% tax on the investments of foundations with assets of $250 million to $1 billion and 2.8% for those with between $50 million and $250 million. Are they truly attempting to 'break the wheel'? Or merely hobble the noble houses that attempt to alleviate the suffering of the less fortunate? These are dangerous games indeed. 'When you play the game of thrones you win or you die. There is no middle ground.' And in this game of taxes it seems the smallfolk are once again caught in the crossfire.