Patrick Kingsley 

Why Stephen King wants to pay more tax

The American horror writer says the super-rich (himself included) should live up to their responsibilities and pay more to the state. So who are the other altruistic fat cats?
  
  

Stephen King
Stephen King: 'What charitable 1 percenters can't do is assume responsibility.' Photograph: Rex Features/Stewart Cook Photograph: Rex Features/Stewart Cook

In his books, Stephen King is famous for his portrayal of axemen. In real life, King is fonder of taxmen. In an article yesterday for the Daily Beast entitled "Tax Me, for F@%&'s Sake!", the American horror writer argued that the super-rich (a grouping within which, with a fortune of more than $400m, he includes himself) should be forced to pay more cheddar to the state. Way more, in fact. King currently pays 28% of his earnings in tax. He thinks that figure should almost double – a view that is not universally shared by his fellow high-rollers.

"The majority," he notes, "would rather douse their dicks with lighter fluid, strike a match, and dance around singing Disco Inferno than pay one more cent in taxes to Uncle Sugar."

Many dick-dousers are philanthropists, admits King, but their philanthropy can only go so far. "What charitable 1 percenters can't do is assume responsibility – America's national responsibilities: the care of its sick and its poor, the education of its young, the repair of its failing infrastructure, the repayment of its staggering war debts."

Thankfully, King is not quite as lonely as he thinks he is. Other commendably self-flagellating fat-cats include Warren Buffett, who famously criticised America's tax system for allowing him to pay less than his cleaner. Then there are billionaire financiers Michael Steinhardt and Morris Pearl, who were among the hundreds of "Patriotic Millionaires" to sign a recent letter calling for higher taxes "for the good of the country." A similar thing happened in France: 16 of the country's richest citizens (including L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt) offered to pay more to the French treasury. And while Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer fought against it, his boss Bill Gates once supported a call for a higher top-rate of income tax in Washington state. Even Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is, in his words, "cool with" higher taxes.

But for their stingier friends, King has a chilling message. "Scrooge changed his tune after the ghosts visited him," he says. "Marie Antoinette, on the other hand, lost her head." Axes and taxes – a recurrent theme.

 

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