What is a fair tax rate?

[Shelzin]

Before we can decide on a tax %, we need to decide just what the governments job is. I think the government has four jobs. 1) represent the USA on the world stage. 2) coin money. 3) protect our borders (military). 4) maintain a equal playing field for every citizen (supreme court). Of course there are operating costs to go along with this, salaries of gov't employees and such. Once we find out how much all of this costs we set the tax rate accordingly. Set tax to a flat rate no deductions to cover the costs.

Government employees, to include senators and representatives, should be paid what the average income for their district is. Readjusted every term. If the people in your district get an increase in their salaries you get a raise, if they go down you loose income right along with them. That is fair.

Before touching social security and medicare / medicade, we need to do away with all the non essentials. Non essentials being overseas military bases (except Germany). Lowering salaries of government employees to above standards. There are so many others to list, but you get the idea. Remove the federal government and replace it with state government, I believe our state taxes should be higher than our federal taxes anyway.

I find it interesting that many Libertarians who so value the founding fathers completely ignore that they specifically had the debate about the value of public education and the role of government such as Federal land grant schools.

Our founding fathers were not as convinced as to the role of private markets as today's libertarians

o.0

I'm sorry... Eh... What is your point? What did the founding fathers come up with, and how is that different from a libertarian?

 

[Full-Auto]

OK, we'd all like to pay 0%, but what tax rates do you think would be fair - and sustainable?

For simplicity, I've broken it down here into these main categories:

Low income 20%
Middle income 27.5%
High income 35%

Corporate tax 30%

VAT 15%

Tax on dividends & shares 25%

Any other major tax categories needed?

My plan is to raise income for the state with a VAT, which will hit the shadow economy and mean even drug dealers are paying some tax.

With that extra income I can then trim corporate taxes.

Feel free to add more details in - I did this very quickly!

I dont really want to insult you off the bat.

But where the hell do you get the Idea that the citizens should give more then ten percent,

Most work to live nopt live to support fat asses in government.

I did catch right off the bat you are a discriminating weasel.....

 

[spectrumc01]

Before we can decide on a tax %, we need to decide just what the governments job is. I think the government has four jobs. 1) represent the USA on the world stage. 2) coin money. 3) protect our borders (military). 4) maintain a equal playing field for every citizen (supreme court). Of course there are operating costs to go along with this, salaries of gov't employees and such. Once we find out how much all of this costs we set the tax rate accordingly. Set tax to a flat rate no deductions to cover the costs.

Government employees, to include senators and representatives, should be paid what the average income for their district is. Readjusted every term. If the people in your district get an increase in their salaries you get a raise, if they go down you loose income right along with them. That is fair.

Before touching social security and medicare / medicade, we need to do away with all the non essentials. Non essentials being overseas military bases (except Germany). Lowering salaries of government employees to above standards. There are so many others to list, but you get the idea. Remove the federal government and replace it with state government, I believe our state taxes should be higher than our federal taxes anyway.

I find it interesting that many Libertarians who so value the founding fathers completely ignore that they specifically had the debate about the value of public education and the role of government such as Federal land grant schools.

Our founding fathers were not as convinced as to the role of private markets as today's libertarians

I believe that every four years the people, while voting for president, should be able to vote yea or nay on elected government officials pay. The tax problem always lands at congresses feet and they never do anything about it. I think they like it just the way it is, maximum benefit for them.

 

[percysunshine]

Everyone should give 100% of their income and wealth to the government.

Royalty deserves it from the serfs.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Everybody in America, regardless of income, should pay only 10% Federal income tax. No deductions. No special tax brackets for anybody. Very simple tax code. Everybody pays 10%. Period. Reduce the tax code book to only 1 page. Simple 10% for everybody.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Trying to apply "fairness" to the tax system is completely arbitrary and nonsensical. It's a system based on a group of people forcing other people to turn over their rightfully earned money or risk being imprisoned or killed. The idea that such a system could be "fair" is ridiculous.

 

[Oddball]

Zero.....Then nobody pays more or less than anyone else.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Zero.....Then nobody pays more or less than anyone else.

I could support "zero". That seems more than fair to me.

 

[Saigon]

Everybody in America, regardless of income, should pay only 10% Federal income tax. No deductions. No special tax brackets for anybody. Very simple tax code. Everybody pays 10%. Period. Reduce the tax code book to only 1 page. Simple 10% for everybody.

How can you not understand this, really?

If you support a flat tax, you will pay 30%.

At 10%, the state would lose literally trillions of dollars per year. It is IMPOSSIBLE.

 

[Saigon]

I dont really want to insult you off the bat.

But where the hell do you get the Idea that the citizens should give more then ten percent,

Most work to live nopt live to support fat asses in government.

I did catch right off the bat you are a discriminating weasel.....

Becaue I think most people want the US to survive.

At a flat tax rate of 10%, the US will cease to exist in its current form.

 

[Rocko]

I think a VAT tax without an Income tax would be the fairest.

 

[spectrumc01]

We can't nail down a tax rate until we know how much we need to run the government. We won't know how much we need until we eliminate all non essentials. We can't identify the non essentials because the congress is ineffectual. We can't cut waste in government because congress doesn't want to hurt their re-election funding. We can't fix the tax rate because congress benefits the most from where it is at now.


To fix the tax code we must fix congress.

 

[Saigon]

You want a VAT tax on top of all the other taxes?!?!

Two words.......Fuck You

Ye, because I am a fiscal conservative.

I guess you are left wing?

 

[alan1]

What is a fair tax rate?

A fair rate would be one where everybody pays either the exact same percentage or the exact same actual dollar amount.
Pick one.

 

[Oddball]

What is a fair tax rate?

A fair rate would be one where everybody pays either the exact same percentage or the exact same actual dollar amount.
Pick one.

That'd be zero.

But then politicians and bureaucrats would actually have to exercise fiscal restraint, and we just won't have any of that.

 

[Saigon]

What is a fair tax rate?

A fair rate would be one where everybody pays either the exact same percentage or the exact same actual dollar amount.
Pick one.

As mentioned - that would be about 30%.

As a dollar rate it's difficult to calculate, but if you are on a middle income, perhaps it would be 20% more than you pay now.

 

[Saigon]

What is a fair tax rate?

A fair rate would be one where everybody pays either the exact same percentage or the exact same actual dollar amount.
Pick one.

That'd be zero.

But then politicians and bureaucrats would actually have to exercise fiscal restraint, and we just won't have any of that.

Wow...another person who does not use or want sewerage, roads, street lighting, police, immigration & customs services or schools.

Who knew so many Americans lived in caves?

 

[Full-Auto]

I dont really want to insult you off the bat.

But where the hell do you get the Idea that the citizens should give more then ten percent,

Most work to live nopt live to support fat asses in government.

I did catch right off the bat you are a discriminating weasel.....

Becaue I think most people want the US to survive.

At a flat tax rate of 10%, the US will cease to exist in its current form.

The US will survive just fine taxing everyone at the same rate.

All men should be treated equally. Without the left looking at their wallet first.......

 

[depotoo]

Who cares???

10% is plenty of money to run the gov't and protect the people... Everything else is just poorly spent money. What does the gov't do better than the private sector?

Unfortunately no country in the world has ever been foolih enough to try the idea, and I think most of us undertand why not.

The US would be bankrupt within a month.

I've personally not studied it enough to know if that's what I would want.
Tell me though, how the US would be bankrupt in a month? If indeed that were to be implemented, cuts in gov't. would have to occur. But where do you think that trillion extra dollars a year they don't have their hands on would actually be then? Think real hard on this one before answering.

 

[alan1]

A fair rate would be one where everybody pays either the exact same percentage or the exact same actual dollar amount.
Pick one.

That'd be zero.

But then politicians and bureaucrats would actually have to exercise fiscal restraint, and we just won't have any of that.

Wow...another person who does not use or want sewerage, roads, street lighting, police, immigration & customs services or schools.

Who knew so many Americans lived in caves?

Other than immigration and customs, everything else you listed is primarily financed through state and local taxes, not federal income tax.