431–440 of 454 posts
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You were forced to immigrate to this country?! Otherwise... the "force" part here is more like, "I was forced to pay for the meal I decided to eat at the restaurant! How dare they!" Don't like it? Don't eat.
>You were forced to immigrate to this country?! I should clarify that I didn't immigrate to California, but was an immigrant to elsewhere. I apologize for the confusion.
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> you can file it for free online if you make under a certain amount. Plus, tons of third-parties will file returns for free, even ones more complicated than 1040ez.
> even ones more complicated than 1040ez. Could you list any of these websites or PM me please?
List of supported forms, including 1040: https://www.taxhawk.com/eligibility.jsp
They don't do everything, but they certainly go beyond 1040EZ. Federal filing is free. They charge for federal extensions and state returns.
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> So in other words, the free market has produced a pile of jobs that we don't really need? Our current system is the opposite of a free market. You can think of paying your monthly rent payment, your banking, etc. as (mostly) free market. You can think of taxes, DMV, healthcare, etc. as not free market.
Housing is very far from free market, from zoning regulations to building codes to property taxes and school districts to rental regulations. Banking is also pretty much the opposite of it, from the Federal Reserve dependency to Fannie and Freddie loan guarantees.
Rent is not really heavily regulated outside of California and New York. Similarly, banking is indeed regulated in specific sectors, but not really across the board
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> The United States has a complicated tax code because it attempts to make things more "fair" for some people. As opposed to the other countries with automated taxes, that don't attempt it?
Well, yes. For instance, Finland, where I live, has a very much simplified income tax collection procedure. Deductions for people with children have been eliminated. Deductions for mortgages are being eliminated. All this in the name of simplicity and, yes, fairness. After all, if you can afford a mortgage, you are clearly well-off, so you should be taxed more. (And there is a good point: Mortgage deductions distort…
I think you agree with me.
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Maybe because in real world the choice is between fixed alternatives and not imaginary scenarios? Even if you think US taxes are way too high and immoral, it's not like you can live in a country like US but without taxes. You can live in a country much worse than the US with taxes, or in US with taxes, or in a country with failed government where there are not taxes but instead people might just kill you on the stree…
Maybe there's a correlation for a reason? Namely that functional governments which keep the peace and provide services to their citizens need income in order to operate.
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In fairness most corporations shouldn't be paying taxes... their investors and customers do though. Also, corporations shouldn't have legal "personhood" or rights to invest in political agendas either. Also, corporate owned property that is unutilized or underutilized should probably be subject to forfeiture for better use. But that's because I feel that corporations should be mostly about collective ownership and pr…
Well, whether or not corporate income taxation is a good thing or not is up for debate, and it has to do with your own politics. However, I think it's crazy that we have it written in law that corporations should pay income tax, but there's enough lawyers and loopholes that 1/5 of them don't. Meanwhile making some side-cash on ebay could possibly garner attention from the IRS..? It's a misalignment of incentives.
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Yes. I love paying taxes. Not because I like having less money in my bank account, but because I understand what paying taxes represents.
In what country are you paying taxes? And is your tax rate above or below 30%? Based on anecdotal evidence, I think that people paying more than 30% rarely ever "love" paying taxes. Below that, it seems to feel much more ok (I'm also below 30% and - while I'm not enthusiastic about paying taxes - it feels like a fair deal).
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Yes. I love paying taxes. Not because I like having less money in my bank account, but because I understand what paying taxes represents.
Yes, funding a $600 billion military industrial complex [0]. Just think, your complete yearly taxes were probably almost enough for a single JDAM [1] which was then dropped on Iraq, in a war where 13% of all civilians were killed directly by US-led forces [2], and many more in the chaos that ensued from the invasion. But you love it. [0] - https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spendi... [1] - https://…
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Chinese system: pay doctor only when you're well. Allign incentives.
Bullshit, I have been to a public Chinese hospital and all I got before paying was a tech hooking me up to an EKG to verify I wasn't actively having a heart attack. Before I could see a doctor, I had to pay cash. I had to pay again to do the blood tests ordered by the doctor.
"The public may yet regard as commendable the Chinese custom of paying the physician only during the period health is maintained, all emoluments ceasing during sickness."
Albert Abrams, Nervous Breakdown, Hicks-Judd Company, San Francisco, 1901, p 5
https://archive.org/stream/nervousbreakdown00abrarich#page/4...
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Do you get any kind of deduction for giving to non-profits/charities? I give about 12-15% of my gross income to non-profits/charities every year and get a generous tax deduction for doing so. The other thing that tends to be complicated with my taxes is selling stocks. How does the UK handle things like that?
Stocks shouldn't be complicated; you've got a cost basis, a date of acquisition, a date of disposition and a final sale price. Withhold based on the deltas and you're all set right?