No Taxes For 125 Million Americans? Vinod Khosla Says This One Thing Could Make It Happen

Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said the rise of artificial intelligence could force a rethink of capitalism, and even allow the U.S. to eliminate income taxes for tens of millions of people without losing revenue.

In a follow-up post on X late Monday, the Khosla Ventures founder argued that scrapping preferential capital-gains treatment and closing certain tax breaks could offset the loss from removing the bottom 125 million taxpayers from the rolls.

“Any economist (beyond ChatGPT) willing to help with the math?” Khosla asked.

Calls To Equalize Capital Gains And Income Taxes

Khosla said the government could be “revenue neutral” while eliminating taxes for lower-income households by taxing capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income and making other changes.

He also proposed removing what he described as “special interest goodies,” including tax-loss carryovers, master limited partnerships, and borrowing against unrealized gains without triggering taxes.

“These tax breaks are special interest goodies inserted by lobbyists and campaign contributions, not true capitalism,” Khosla wrote, adding that the changes could even increase revenue and allow “more concessions to labor.”

Links Proposal To AI-Driven Economic Shift