Tax Simplification

[freeandfun1]

For one, here is how Tax Simplification will help my business......

I will no longer have to pay a $1,500 a month retainer for my CPA!!!

I can't wait!

 

[eric]

Amen to that !!!!

 

[Shattered]

I always thought Tax Simplification was:

How much did you make?

Send it in.

 

[eric]

I always thought Tax Simplification was:

How much did you make?

Send it in.

 

[Eightball]

Some say it's regressive, but I would just as soon have a National Sales Tax, and not go through the April filing crap. I'm sick and tired of being on "pins and needles" wondering how much I'm going to get soaked, and just pay a "users" tax.

Again, I'm for a sales tax. I sure hope there's some "balls" in Washington to really push this one. I know that literally thousands of IRS folks will be out fo a job, but hey, let's just call it streamlining government. What do you do when a company is "top heavy" with management?

Regards, Eightballsidepocket

GO GWB!

 

[Mr. P]

Some say it's regressive, but I would just as soon have a National Sales Tax, and not go through the April filing crap. I'm sick and tired of being on "pins and needles" wondering how much I'm going to get soaked, and just pay a "users" tax.

Again, I'm for a sales tax. I sure hope there's some "balls" in Washington to really push this one. I know that literally thousands of IRS folks will be out fo a job, but hey, let's just call it streamlining government. What do you do when a company is "top heavy" with management?

Regards, Eightballsidepocket

GO GWB!

I pretty much feel the same way...The plus to retail sales tax we don't see now....all the millions of cash only people will pay tax too!

 

[wade]

Some say it's regressive, but I would just as soon have a National Sales Tax, and not go through the April filing crap. I'm sick and tired of being on "pins and needles" wondering how much I'm going to get soaked, and just pay a "users" tax.

Again, I'm for a sales tax. I sure hope there's some "balls" in Washington to really push this one. I know that literally thousands of IRS folks will be out fo a job, but hey, let's just call it streamlining government. What do you do when a company is "top heavy" with management?

Regards, Eightballsidepocket

GO GWB!

Why don't we just eliminate all capital gains taxes and any taxes on income above a million dollars?

Or even better, lets just have a flat tax of $3000 per adult - if you don't pay you can go work it off in a labor camp?

 

[Mr. P]

Why don't we just eliminate all capital gains taxes and any taxes on income above a million dollars?

That would be great!
Even better, lets totally eliminate tax on income.

Or even better, lets just have a flat tax of $3000 per adult - if you don't pay you can go work it off in a labor camp?

That's not "FAIR".

 

[KarlMarx]

Some say it's regressive, but I would just as soon have a National Sales Tax, and not go through the April filing crap. I'm sick and tired of being on "pins and needles" wondering how much I'm going to get soaked, and just pay a "users" tax.

Again, I'm for a sales tax. I sure hope there's some "balls" in Washington to really push this one. I know that literally thousands of IRS folks will be out fo a job, but hey, let's just call it streamlining government. What do you do when a company is "top heavy" with management?

Regards, Eightballsidepocket

GO GWB!

Did you know that the income tax was introduced during the CIVIL WAR (1861-1865) to help pay for it?

The income tax has probably stuck around so long partly because there have been and still are people in government who still cling on to the hope that we will someday redistribute all wealth in the nation and that the Income Tax is one way to accomplish it.

Tax laws in this country have been used by the government as a means to accomplish social engineering of one sort or another. For instance....married people get tax breaks (to encourage marriage), people with dependents (mostly children) are given tax breaks (to encourage having children?), donations to charities are tax exempt (to encourage charitable giving), interest on mortgages on first homes are tax exempt (to encourage home ownership), IRA and 401(k) contributions are tax exempt up to a point (to encourage savings on retirement). Perhaps such things should not be part of the government's mandate. A national sales tax might help to avoid a lot of this.

And if there were a national sales tax, what should its rate be set at? 25%? 33%? What would the effects of a national sales tax have? Would people have more money to spend? Probably not, since the sales tax would probably be revenue neutral. Would it encourage savings and investment? Very likely, since such activities would very likely be exempt from taxation. Of course, charitable giving would be free from taxation by definition, since you aren't purchasing anything when you give to a charity.

 

[wade]

Did you know that the income tax was introduced during the CIVIL WAR (1861-1865) to help pay for it?

The income tax has probably stuck around so long partly because there have been and still are people in government who still cling on to the hope that we will someday redistribute all wealth in the nation and that the Income Tax is one way to accomplish it.

Tax laws in this country have been used by the government as a means to accomplish social engineering of one sort or another. For instance....married people get tax breaks (to encourage marriage), people with dependents (mostly children) are given tax breaks (to encourage having children?), donations to charities are tax exempt (to encourage charitable giving), interest on mortgages on first homes are tax exempt (to encourage home ownership), IRA and 401(k) contributions are tax exempt up to a point (to encourage savings on retirement). Perhaps such things should not be part of the government's mandate. A national sales tax might help to avoid a lot of this.

And if there were a national sales tax, what should its rate be set at? 25%? 33%? What would the effects of a national sales tax have? Would people have more money to spend? Probably not, since the sales tax would probably be revenue neutral. Would it encourage savings and investment? Very likely, since such activities would very likely be exempt from taxation. Of course, charitable giving would be free from taxation by definition, since you aren't purchasing anything when you give to a charity.

Consumer spending would be seriously hurt by a tax system as you propose because the tax would be heavily weighted at the bottom. Savings and investment would be encouraged, but only the well-to-do and the wealthy would have enough income to take advantage of this.

Seriously, a sales tax is a regressive tax. If we are going to implement such a thing, we need to eliminate all services that cater to the rich and to business that are paid for by taxes. This would include the funding of our foreign embassies, coast gaurd rescue services, FBI protections which are grossly weighted to serve the rich, and a host of other tax payer supported government activities. This is the only way such a sales tax could be small enough to not severely hurt the middle and lower classes.

The richer Americans pay a higher proportion of the tax, but they also recieve a higher proportion of the services. That would have to change. Such things would have to be paid for some other way, probably through usage charges which would be severe and thus discourge even the rich from utilizing them.

What we should do is eliminate all taxes except those on non-renewable or slowly renewable resources, such as oil and wood. While this too would be somewhat regressive, it would not be nearly as regressive as a strait sales tax, as the wealthy tend to use a disproportionate amount of these materials. People would have to be given some kind of credit for a minimal amount of basic needs usage - so the poor could afford to heat their homes. The transporation industry would also be hit hard, unless the tax was not fully applied to some industries such as trucking and airlines at first, so they could gradually adapt to the new costs of doing business.

Such a non-renewable resources tax would also encourage conservation and development of new technologies.

 

[fubar]

Consumer spending would be seriously hurt by a tax system as you propose because the tax would be heavily weighted at the bottom.

- I don't see it, are you saying rich people don't spend money ?

Savings and investment would be encouraged, but only the well-to-do and the wealthy would have enough income to take advantage of this.

- again, no evidence. Give me 30% more money per week to live, and I can save 30% more without changing anything in my habits. no matter how little money I make.

Seriously, a sales tax is a regressive tax. If we are going to implement such a thing, we need to eliminate all services that cater to the rich and to business that are paid for by taxes. This would include the funding of our foreign embassies, coast gaurd rescue services, FBI protections which are grossly weighted to serve the rich, and a host of other tax payer supported government activities. This is the only way such a sales tax could be small enough to not severely hurt the middle and lower classes.

-Stop it. Every conservative & Libertarian wants government to be smaller, but you are implying that diplomacy is a vacation club, the Coast Guard only helps pleasure boats ( you don't live near the water do you ? ) and rich folk get an FBI security team.

The richer Americans pay a higher proportion of the tax, but they also recieve a higher proportion of the services. That would have to change. Such things would have to be paid for some other way, probably through usage charges which would be severe and thus discourge even the rich from utilizing them.

- Again, no evidence for this claim. What higher proportion of services ? and your own words are contradictory. If they pay more and get more then it's fair. But what do they get ?

What we should do is eliminate all taxes except those on non-renewable or slowly renewable resources, such as oil and wood. While this too would be somewhat regressive, it would not be nearly as regressive as a strait sales tax, as the wealthy tend to use a disproportionate amount of these materials. People would have to be given some kind of credit for a minimal amount of basic needs usage - so the poor could afford to heat their homes. The transporation industry would also be hit hard, unless the tax was not fully applied to some industries such as trucking and airlines at first, so they could gradually adapt to the new costs of doing business.

This agenda is silly. lets dispense permits for lightbulbs while we're at it, maybe 6 per family. And have trucking companies doing all that nasty truck stuff switch over to peddle powered golf carts.

Such a non-renewable resources tax would also encourage conservation and development of new technologies.