A: I'm glad you asked that question.
First, I want to point out that I pay payroll taxes on the same basis as everyone else. I pay state and local income taxes. I pay real estate and personal property taxes. I pay sales and use taxes. I pay excise taxes, fees, assessments, and occasionally fines and penalties. In all, I pay millions of dollars to various agencies of government every year. Much more than 99+ percent of the population.
Second, my personal economic activity generates untold millions in tax revenue, paid by the people I employ and the companies in which I hold an ownership interest. Without my business initiative, none of the activity would take place, and none of those tax revenues would be generated. I don't mean to say that I'm taking credit for taxes that other people are paying, I'm just saying that without my personal business initiative, that money would not be going into the government's coffers.
Third, you may recall that Steve Forbes ran for president a few years ago with a proposal to impose a "flat tax" on all Americans, and I would gladly pay a flat tax at any level, if that were the prevailing obligation.
If we had a Flat Tax, the Internal Revenue Code and the Federal tax regulations would be very short and easily understandable, but they are thousands of pages long. They are enormous because CONGRESS has chosen to use the tax code to induce people to behave in certain ways, and to punish people for behaving on certain other ways. Some investments result in tax credits, because Congress wants people and companies to make those investments. Some expenses are tax-deductible, because Congress has decreed that they should not be taxed.
If I am able to avoid paying any direct income taxes in any given tax year, it is only because I am engaging in the kinds of activities that Congress believes are more important or valuable to the country than the taxes that I would pay if I didn't engage in those activities. If you have a problem with that, tell your Congress-person. I will obey the tax laws, whatever they are.
I pay my fair share of taxes, and I make no apologies for doing what Congress apparently wants me to do.
First, I want to point out that I pay payroll taxes on the same basis as everyone else. I pay state and local income taxes. I pay real estate and personal property taxes. I pay sales and use taxes. I pay excise taxes, fees, assessments, and occasionally fines and penalties. In all, I pay millions of dollars to various agencies of government every year. Much more than 99+ percent of the population.
Second, my personal economic activity generates untold millions in tax revenue, paid by the people I employ and the companies in which I hold an ownership interest. Without my business initiative, none of the activity would take place, and none of those tax revenues would be generated. I don't mean to say that I'm taking credit for taxes that other people are paying, I'm just saying that without my personal business initiative, that money would not be going into the government's coffers.
Third, you may recall that Steve Forbes ran for president a few years ago with a proposal to impose a "flat tax" on all Americans, and I would gladly pay a flat tax at any level, if that were the prevailing obligation.
If we had a Flat Tax, the Internal Revenue Code and the Federal tax regulations would be very short and easily understandable, but they are thousands of pages long. They are enormous because CONGRESS has chosen to use the tax code to induce people to behave in certain ways, and to punish people for behaving on certain other ways. Some investments result in tax credits, because Congress wants people and companies to make those investments. Some expenses are tax-deductible, because Congress has decreed that they should not be taxed.
If I am able to avoid paying any direct income taxes in any given tax year, it is only because I am engaging in the kinds of activities that Congress believes are more important or valuable to the country than the taxes that I would pay if I didn't engage in those activities. If you have a problem with that, tell your Congress-person. I will obey the tax laws, whatever they are.
I pay my fair share of taxes, and I make no apologies for doing what Congress apparently wants me to do.
