Community Forums

fsteve65 · 05-09-2012, 07:49 PM

I would vote for it.

chuckinthebus · 05-09-2012, 08:17 PM

x6. And why do they not start at minimum wage without experience? If they only received the average wage as their constituents, would they make a career of it?

LSC9901 · 05-09-2012, 08:29 PM

My new guideline now is to never vote for an incumbent. If they can't impose term limits, then I will.

Ray,IN · 05-09-2012, 08:43 PM

LSC9901, I did exactly that yesterday!

My idea is a 10% federal flat tax on every dime earned, by anyone stateside (offshore tax is 35%), whether a private individual, corporation, government unit, etc. Eliminate the IRS, monies to be collected by states,and the feds share forwarded to them by the state treasurer. No long forms allowed, just a one-page sheet listing your gross income and a line for tax due. If the feds can't live within that amount, those politicians make up the difference. Might sound foolish to some, might not to some.

powerboatr · 05-09-2012, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartySQ

They got ahold of my cell number somehow! Grrr!

me to and the calls are everyday
some turkey wanting an opinion on everything from dryer sheets to toothpaste

tax the adds, yes sir

Midniteoyl · 05-09-2012, 08:56 PM

Screw 50%.. I say a dollar for every dollar spent. And ALL unspent campaign an pac monies go to the Treasuries as a debt payoff payment.. kind of a 'put your money where your mouth is'

Sohapi · 05-09-2012, 08:59 PM

I totally agree! Lets not forget about the fuel costs that we pay for whoever is running for re-election too! Maybe they could put a tax on Hot Air too.......I bet that would bring in a lot of money.

JimM68 · 05-09-2012, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdstrohm

Love it ...

My husband always says, the way to fix SS is to get rid of the govt pensions and put them on SS .... it would be fixed in no time.

Now there's a good idea. Richie Daly 11, former second boss of chicago, is collecting 3 pensions last I heard.

JimM68 · 05-09-2012, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swampdog

i never drink unless i'm by myself or with somebody, but i will drink to that

I all ready did.

wnytaxman · 05-10-2012, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

LSC9901, I did exactly that yesterday!

My idea is a 10% federal flat tax on every dime earned, by anyone stateside (offshore tax is 35%), whether a private individual, corporation, government unit, etc. Eliminate the IRS, monies to be collected by states,and the feds share forwarded to them by the state treasurer. No long forms allowed, just a one-page sheet listing your gross income and a line for tax due. If the feds can't live within that amount, those politicians make up the difference. Might sound foolish to some, might not to some.

I don't mean to get too far off track with this, but the flat tax is one of those ideas that sounds great on paper, but in practice it would be a disaster. Right now 75% of all the taxes paid in the US are paid by 5% of the population. Almost half of the households in the US pay no federal income tax at all. Many get back more than they pay in with all the low income incentives out there. Put in a flat tax and the upper end gets a huge cut and the lower and middle will be paying much, much more than we are now. A while back there was a discussion of eliminating the interest deduction for second homes, which includes RV's. Many RV owners had a fit about that.

Ramblin · 05-10-2012, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

I don't mean to get too far off track with this, but the flat tax is one of those ideas that sounds great on paper, but in practice it would be a disaster. Right now 75% of all the taxes paid in the US are paid by 5% of the population. Almost half of the households in the US pay no federal income tax at all. Many get back more than they pay in with all the low income incentives out there. Put in a flat tax and the upper end gets a huge cut and the lower and middle will be paying much, much more than we are now. A while back there was a discussion of eliminating the interest deduction for second homes, which includes RV's. Many RV owners had a fit about that.

I'll be the token FairTax whipping boy here. Eliminate tax on income, tax expenditures instead!

wnytaxman · 05-10-2012, 10:34 AM

Ramblin,

I certainly understand what you are saying, but if I'm paying 35% of my income in taxes now, I'd really welcome only paying 10% of my expenses. Any time there is a consumption tax or sales tax or goods and services tax, as our friends north of the border call it, you have a blank check to the government. If you are in a state that has sales tax, what did the tax start out at and where is it now? I can remember a 2% sales tax when it started and now we're just under 9%. You can guarantee that any sort of a national sales tax will only go one way and that certainly isn't down!

Ramblin · 05-10-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

Ramblin,

I certainly understand what you are saying, but if I'm paying 35% of my income in taxes now, I'd really welcome only paying 10% of my expenses. Any time there is a consumption tax or sales tax or goods and services tax, as our friends north of the border call it, you have a blank check to the government. If you are in a state that has sales tax, what did the tax start out at and where is it now? I can remember a 2% sales tax when it started and now we're just under 9%. You can guarantee that any sort of a national sales tax will only go one way and that certainly isn't down!

I'm no tax expert, as will become apparent if we pursue this discussion much further.

The FairTax, as I understand it, is a fixed ~26% sales tax levied only on new items when they are sold. After elimination of income taxes, it supposedly comes out net positive for everyone, and generates more revenue for the government than the current system does. It works because suddenly, EVERYONE is a taxpayer; prostitutes, drug dealers, foreign tourists, illegal aliens, everyone that buys stuff.

Income tax collection works on a bell curve. If you tax me at 0%, you get $0. If you tax me at 100%, you still get $0, because I no longer have any incentive to produce (or report) income.

In that scenario, I, to some extent, have control over whether I want to pay the tax, how much I want to pay, etc. I just work less if I want to pay less tax. Under the FairTax I would have no such control. I either pay the tax, or I don't buy anything new.

I understand what you're saying, if the government has control over the tax rate under the FairTax, they will manipulate it. I don't know if there is anything to control that in the bill.

wnytaxman · 05-10-2012, 11:42 AM

Ramblin,

The idea behind the fair tax is fine, but the practice is that it won't work. For example, we are on the border with Canada. Quite simply, I'll just go across the river and shop in Ontario. For 25% or more in savings, it's a no brainer. Also others will simply go to Europe, Mexico, and wherever else there is no such consumption tax.

The tax code is incredibly complex, but there is a reason for it. The tax code started out in pretty simple terms, but then Congress decided to use it for social engineering. For example, let's stimulate the housing industry by allowing the deduction for home mortgage interest, let's make high tax states like NY and CA more attractive by allowing a deduction for real estate taxes and state income taxes and so on. I can remember that at one time there was a deduction allowed for cigarette taxes paid. That was done for the benefit of the tobacco industry.

Is the tax code too complex? Absolutely. The argument could be made that it is almost unenforceable due to its complexity. Now you have so many different special interests wedged into the tax code I don't ever see it changing. Everyone from the doctors with the medical deduction to the unions with the deduction for union dues. As the '60's DJ's used to say, "And the hits just keep on coming!"