Dimon against wealth tax

Jamie Dimon says it would help the economy if he and his fellow billionaires paid more taxes — but he claims a wealth tax wouldn’t work.

“There are taxes which will slow down growth, like taxes on capital formation or labor, and there are taxes which will not affect growth, like taxes on, you know, well-to-do people like me,” the JPMorgan chief told CNBC on Wednesday,

So while Dimon, with a net worth of $1.3 billion, thinks the wealthier can and should pay more, he is against a wealth tax, which has been proposed by Democratic politicians.

“I’m not against having higher tax on the wealthy,”

Dimon said. “But I think that you do that through their income as opposed to, you know, calculate wealth, which becomes extremely complicated, legalistic, bureaucratic, regulatory, and people find a million ways around it. I would just tax income.”

Dimon (inset), who is never shy about expressing his political opinions, also predicted that the presidential election will not have an immediate impact on the economy because more fiscal spending by Democrats would do enough in the short run to make up for any potential rollback of the

Trump tax cuts.

The wealthy are bracing for tax hikes as government deficits at the state and federal level have soared during the pandemic.

Dimon, however, also said tax cuts and relaxed regulation have helped free up the private sector.

“I remind people, the world, when you slow down the economy, you are hurting the disadvantaged more than anybody else,” Dimon said.

“And I just think there should be far more thought about taxation . . . if you want an active, healthy growing economy.”