Taxation - Political Forum

CHUQ · 10-11-2006, 05:04 AM

Should the taxes in the US be overhaul or trashed for a new system or just leave it alone?

This could interesting.

trailblazer · 10-12-2006, 05:00 PM

Well, so much of what's in the existing tax system today is designed to maintain a bloated supply of accountants and tax lawyers. So it should definitely be overhauled - but the real trick is to figure out how to do it fairly.

superbug · 10-12-2006, 07:27 PM

Easy, the Fair Tax. There is already a 23% (roughly) embedded tax on all products we buy today. Throw on top of that the taxes that are taken out of your pay check.
With the Fair Tax you get to keep 100% of your check, and now you will only pay taxes when you buy new on the retail level. So this isn't a V.A.T.
Also, prices will not go up. The tax would be 23% (maybe even less). So with the embedded price from the old tax system gone prices either stay the same or go down. The price you see on the tag is the price you pay.
The best place for more information is www.fairtax.org

CHUQ · 10-13-2006, 04:32 AM

Screw complicated codes. And that would include any income that a person receives within that tax year. To claify, if you live below poverty line you are exempt. Eliminate all loopholes!

superbug · 10-13-2006, 07:03 AM

The Fair Tax would get rid of the loop holes, and bring back money that is kept in off shore accounts.

trailblazer · 10-13-2006, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbug

Easy, the Fair Tax. There is already a 23% (roughly) embedded tax on all products we buy today. Throw on top of that the taxes that are taken out of your pay check.
With the Fair Tax you get to keep 100% of your check, and now you will only pay taxes when you buy new on the retail level. So this isn't a V.A.T.
Also, prices will not go up. The tax would be 23% (maybe even less). So with the embedded price from the old tax system gone prices either stay the same or go down. The price you see on the tag is the price you pay.
The best place for more information is www.fairtax.org

Hoo boy...

Okay, two things I hope we can agree on before continuing:

1) There is no "easy" solution to the tax policy of this or any other nation. We live in the real world, not some Age of Empires simulation.
2) The only meaning of "fair" in the proponents of the "Fair Tax" is in its marketing value. Which, sadly, many people fall for.

That said, I actually favor CHUQ's idea that anyone living below the poverty line should be exempt from taxation. In fact, I'm fairly confident that Congress, if properly motivated, could come up with a revenue-neutral plan to eliminate personal income taxes for the bottom 70-90% of wage earners.

You may have guessed that I like progressive taxation. (If you think that means "liberal," please go to wikipedia for the correct definition.) The U.S. had its biggest true economic booms - not bubbles - when corporations were paying a 50% tax rate and the wealthiest citizens were paying that rate or even a little more. Thanks to the free ride these folks have been given, starting with Ronald Reagan, the U.S. now has an unmanageable debt. "Fair" taxes and flat taxes simply won't solve that problem.

superbug · 10-13-2006, 01:12 PM

Just so you know I don't go to Wikipedia for any information, I find it to be a very poor source based on the fact any one can change it. That aside, "Progressive" is the same term the Communist used to describe themselves in the USSR.
I'm against any form of taxation that takes from an income. The people below the poverty line aren't paying any way, and on top of that the people that make the most are paying most of the taxes today.
Remember that corporations don't pay taxes, you pay their taxes for them in the products that you buy. They pass that burden on to the customer.
And you are right on one point, a flat tax won't solve anything. The IRS would still be there, and the government would still be taking money from your paycheck at the point of a gun.

francois60 · 10-13-2006, 01:32 PM

I'm against the income tax for privacy reasons. Citizens should not have to report their finances to the government. Sales taxes are much less onerous in that way because all businesses have to do is report their sales. They don't even have to report their profits if they don't want to(unless they are public, of course, because shareholders need to know).

trailblazer · 10-13-2006, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbug

Just so you know I don't go to Wikipedia for any information, I find it to be a very poor source based on the fact any one can change it. That aside, "Progressive" is the same term the Communist used to describe themselves in the USSR.

Look up the terms "progressive taxation" and "regressive taxation" (the Fair Tax is the latter), in ANY Economics textbook.

superbug · 10-13-2006, 07:04 PM

Taxing people's income is not progressive by any means. It punishes achievement.