It’s because those self-satisfied middle-income folks are basking in the trickle down effect they’re getting from the breaks supplied to the 10% and above and the cut rates the corporations are receiving.
As for myself, I’m OK with the tax code the way it is, it’s not so complicated for my use. But I’m OK with making it less complex.
Whad 'ya have in mind?
I’d like to see investment income taxed the same as wage income. I think it’s a myth that investment income is somehow more special than wage income. That would be fairer.
I’d like to see some kind of alternative minimum tax applied to the wealthy and corporations, rather than having them go to zero tax owed. They all benefit from the infrastructure and societal goods that come from taxes.
I’d like to see better monitoring of “non-profit” organizations, and churches/pastors should be taxed too.
there’s more…but that’s a start.
I don’t think it has a chance of happening, but I like the National Sales Tax because then we don’t have to banter around what “types” of income there are and what “deductions” people can take. It would encourage people to spend less than they make, which is apparently a radical philosophy. I also like the fact that everyone would be paying into the system, not just 50% of the people. The problem with this system is that I don’t trust our government and they would end up treating it like a VAT and still impose an income tax on top. Several states already do not have income tax and they are using consumption based taxes to fund government. Coincidentally, people are also moving to these states in droves…
I think the best chance of success is probably something based off a Flat Tax, but then we will back into the trap of types of income and expenses.
If we ever do change, which I highly doubt, the goals for a new system should be:
- Ensure that everyone is contributing
- Significantly reduce the individual and corporate compliance costs
- Significantly reduce the IRS headcount
The problem with a level flat income tax or a Federal Sales tax is that it leaves the lower end income earners with insufficient money to live on. If the income flat tax rate is 15% it means next to nothing if your making $400K a year but it’s taking food out of the mouths of your children if you make $25K and have three or four kids.
For-profit entities use up a lot of our infrastructure and add costs to everything from real estate to environmental problems. They should pay their fair share.
We should not have runaway debt and everyone should pay taxes support our country’s standard of living commensurate to their ability what they derive from it.
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And you just made one of my points for me. Changing our tax system will require a lot of analysis, discussion and compromise…so we won’t even try. The goal of politicians is to stay in power, not to actually solve difficult problems.
Believe me as a long-time real estate investor, I love the current tax code because I understand how it works to my advantage. I hope we don’t change it…but we need to…
We aren’t going to solve it on a message board…but enjoyed the discussion.
Precisely! Yet we keep electing them over and over.
Yes, I’ve heard that about how economists think about the mortgage deduction. Homeowners love it, but it unfairly favors homeowners/landlords over renters, and economists have been in favor of getting rid of it for other economist reasons(!)
- Significantly reduce the IRS headcount
As for the comment about reducing the IRS headcount, the Rs have defunded the IRS and USPS to the point that they aren’t properly staffed. The IRS computer/technology is way overdue for an update, and more IRS employees are needed. Perhaps in the future, if the tax system is changed, fewer might be needed. And if the technology gets updated it might be faster/easier for people to get help/answers.
Human Nature Principle #1:
There is no better way to corrupt the soul of any individual than by giving him money on a regular basis for doing nothing whatsoever of any value.
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Have you ever considered considered that capital gains tax is not inflation-adjusted? Meaning they can be no actual gain, and the payer is still taxed on a phantom gain.
And just how is this done?
And how do you know if a wealthy person does or doesn’t work? FYI, managing investments can be quite a lot of work.