The scope of my comment you cite is the usual "extremely wealthy people using loopholes to avoid taxes while burdening your average joe with them instead".

This is not "your math is slightly off and we're going to be punitive." This is defending against tax evasion strategies by those with the wealth and power to attempt them. If you don't believe in taxes, or don't believe the wealthy should have the majority of the burden, certainly, we will not find common ground.

My mental model is "You are very wealthy because you are very lucky. The cost to you for the societal socioeconomic system enabling this wealth is higher tax rates than those who work. Please pay your taxes due for a system that enabled your accumulation of wealth, and permission to keep it during your lifetime. If you attempt to evade the system, we will improve the system accordingly." One owes taxes on a lottery ticket, this is no different, just a different form of lottery ticket that paid out.

If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? Turns out it’s just chance. - https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/03/01/144958/if-youre-... - March 1st, 2018

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1802.07068 : Talent vs. Luck: The Role of Randomness in Success and Failure https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.07068

Tax evasion by millionaires and billionaires tops $150 billion a year, says IRS chief - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/22/tax-evasion-by-wealthiest-am... - February 22nd, 2024

Panama Papers helps recover more than $1.2B around the world - https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/panama-pap... - April 3rd, 2019

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

New York passes pied-a-terre tax