91–100 of 188 posts
I have a conspiracy theory that there are far more rich people than we are lead to believe, also that most of us are just working to prop them up and keep them rich.
You’ll never see rich people argue for a wealth tax, but they sure as hell will parade demanding that we raise taxes on income of the service class.
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That's factually incorrect. It's easy to make a list of rich people specifically saying tax the rich more. Leaving that aside, the 1% pay 38.5% of taxes, which seems quite fair as is. We already tax the rich quite heavily. I'd rather the focus be on compliance. Close the loopholes and catch the tax evaders. Wealth taxes, if you look at examples elsewhere both present and historically, are hard to do well. I worry the…
> Leaving that aside, the 1% pay 38.5% of taxes, which seems quite fair as is. We already tax the rich quite heavily. Given the fact the top 1% hold 43% of the global wealth I think they aren't paying their fair share... There is no need for someone to have 100 billion dollars they an struggle by with 10 billion easy enough .. or even 1 billion https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/top-1-percent-of-household...
If the IRS knows how much money I owe why dont they just send me a bill?
You proceed from a fallacy. The IRS doesn't know how much tax you owe because Congress has created a massively complex system that includes using deductions to incentivize certain types of behavior, as well as using the tax system as a mechanism to deliver means-tested benefits.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you doubled or tripled the number of cops in LA, would they solve more difficult crimes in the monied and lawyered Hollywood Hills? Or would they go after more petty crime in South Central, where it’s easy to get a conviction?
that's a poor comparison. The IRS are not cops, and the monied and lawyered do not commit petty crime at a high level whereas they do commit tax evasion at a much higher level.
If the IRS knows how much money I owe why dont they just send me a bill?
If the IRS knows how much money I owe why dont they just send me a bill?
You proceed from a fallacy. The IRS doesn't know how much tax you owe because Congress has created a massively complex system that includes using deductions to incentivize certain types of behavior, as well as using the tax system as a mechanism to deliver means-tested benefits.
This has been a major topic of discussion in tax circles for decades, the vast majority of Americans do not benefit from deductions and the federal government's direct knowledge of your income is essentially identical to your own (because of mandatory reporting from employers, banks & other financial service entities).
Specific deductions are written by and for high income individuals, and supported by lobbying from the tax industry which wouldn't exist without them, but they're not used by the vast majority of Americans, especially with raised SALT limits and doubled standard deduction.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You proceed from a fallacy. The IRS doesn't know how much tax you owe because Congress has created a massively complex system that includes using deductions to incentivize certain types of behavior, as well as using the tax system as a mechanism to deliver means-tested benefits.
You assume everyone itemizes deductions. There is a thing called the "standard deduction" which renders your point moot for the people using it which I suspect has a lot of overlap with the people who would like the IRS to do the calculation.
For example, the Earned Income Tax Credit is a means-tested benefit program that's delivered through the tax system. This is not a niche program - 25 million families benefit from it.
It requires filers to identify how many qualifying children they have, which in turns depends on things like the educational status (is this child in school, college, are they a full-time student) and residency (child must generally live with you, but with exceptions for overseas military service, etc).
In cases where multiple filers can claim a qualifying child (e.g. cohabiting single filers), you're required to make an election as to which return will claim the qualifying child.
The EITC also encourages reporting of informal income (because it's only available to people who earned an income) which might not be on a W-2 / 1099, e.g. baby sitting, to qualify.
None of that stuff is known to the IRS from W-2s, 1099s etc. and they are dependent on the filer to provide it every year, especially as circumstances change; and filers are strongly incentivized to provide it as the credit is refundable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You proceed from a fallacy. The IRS doesn't know how much tax you owe because Congress has created a massively complex system that includes using deductions to incentivize certain types of behavior, as well as using the tax system as a mechanism to deliver means-tested benefits.
90% of US taxpayers used the standard deduction in 2018, up from 70% in previous years. This has been a major topic of discussion in tax circles for decades, the vast majority of Americans do not benefit from deductions and the federal government's direct knowledge of your income is essentially identical to your own (because of mandatory reporting from employers, banks & other financial service entities). Specific de…
And this is not just limited to the Earned Income Tax Credit.
There are also Child Credits, Child and Dependent Care Credits, Adoption Credits, Residential Energy Credits (for those who got solar), Low-Income Housing Credits (for low-income home owners), American Opportunity Tax Credits (for those with low/middle incomes paying college expenses) ... and all of these are relevant to non-itemizers.
P.S. there are also above-the-line deductions available which reduce your AGI even if you take the standard deduction - an important one being the one for Student Loan Interest.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
interesting. what makes you think so?
If you doubled or tripled the number of cops in LA, would they solve more difficult crimes in the monied and lawyered Hollywood Hills? Or would they go after more petty crime in South Central, where it’s easy to get a conviction?
consequentially the German IRS has bought data from Swiss and Liechtenstein tax haven whistleblowers. several times so. and to the amazement and applause of the public, very prominent figures went to jail. like soccer legend Uli Hoeneß.
the corresponding Wikipedia article is surprisingly not available in English yet:
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steuers%C3%BCnder-CD
long story short: if you, the American people, elect representatives who want a fair system, you will get a fair system.
of course IRS will go after tax fraud at scale if you make them do that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Leaving that aside, the 1% pay 38.5% of taxes, which seems quite fair as is. We already tax the rich quite heavily. Given the fact the top 1% hold 43% of the global wealth I think they aren't paying their fair share... There is no need for someone to have 100 billion dollars they an struggle by with 10 billion easy enough .. or even 1 billion https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/top-1-percent-of-household...
so what's fair? 50%? 60? who decides? when does it stop?