Taxing Necessities

[Sonny Clark]

Do you agree or disagree with the following:

We should not have to pay taxes on:
(1) Food
(2) Water
(3) Clothing
(4) Shelter
(5) Health care and health care products ( medicine, health aids, etc. )

***** Optional Choices:
(1) Transportation
(2) Utilities
(3) Education

 

[defcon4]

I think all qualifies.

 

[Annie]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

 

[Sonny Clark]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

Thanks, and I can see your point also. I'm all for a flat tax, if it applies to everyone equally.

 

[Toronado3800]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

Thanks, and I can see your point also. I'm all for a flat tax, if it applies to everyone equally.

No it does not. If after basic living expenses and some pot a poor man who makes $20,000 a year has $0 in the bank the flat tax hits him harder than a fella making $100,000 a year who after feeding his kids, going to Jamaica, buying a BMW, and some coke has $10,000 left.

Missouri has lower taxes on food items and higher on sin items so it seems we historically agree with you. I have not noticed if the "thrift" stores that sell recycled clothing tax equally. Those I would vote for dropping the tax on. Clothing at Walmart maybe if they ONLY carried the bargain stuff. Designer clothes are soo expensive they could be taxed quadruple and it would make little difference.

A side note, One of the relatively poor white sales guys was walking around work talking about how comfy his $150 jeans were. OMG! Every once in awhile I end up with a pair of $45 LEVIs after a birthday. They are nicer than my $9.99 Walmart Rustlers or $19.99 Wanglers I must say but paying $150 for pants just seems like it should disqualify you for any tax deductioms for a decade.

 

[Sonny Clark]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

Thanks, and I can see your point also. I'm all for a flat tax, if it applies to everyone equally.

No it does not. If after basic living expenses and some pot a poor man who makes $20,000 a year has $0 in the bank the flat tax hits him harder than a fella making $100,000 a year who after feeding his kids, going to Jamaica, buying a BMW, and some coke has $10,000 left.

Missouri has lower taxes on food items and higher on sin items so it seems we historically agree with you. I have not noticed if the "thrift" stores that sell recycled clothing tax equally. Those I would vote for dropping the tax on. Clothing at Walmart maybe if they ONLY carried the bargain stuff. Designer clothes are soo expensive they could be taxed quadruple and it would make little difference.

A side note, One of the relatively poor white sales guys was walking around work talking about how comfy his $150 jeans were. OMG! Every once in awhile I end up with a pair of $45 LEVIs after a birthday. They are nicer than my $9.99 Walmart Rustlers or $19.99 Wanglers I must say but paying $150 for pants just seems like it should disqualify you for any tax deductioms for a decade.

Very good points. Yes, luxury should be taxed, I agree.
But, lets say that the tax rate ( sales tax ) is 8%. The guy that buys the $150 jeans would pay more in tax than the guy that paid $12.99 at Wal-Mart for a pair of jeans. The guy that buys a new BMW would pay more sales tax than the guy buying a 4 year old Chevy pick up. So, the more money one spends, the more taxes they pay. The more one makes, the higher priced goods that can afford, thus the more taxes they would pay for purchases.

 

[Nosmo King]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

Thanks, and I can see your point also. I'm all for a flat tax, if it applies to everyone equally.

No it does not. If after basic living expenses and some pot a poor man who makes $20,000 a year has $0 in the bank the flat tax hits him harder than a fella making $100,000 a year who after feeding his kids, going to Jamaica, buying a BMW, and some coke has $10,000 left.

Missouri has lower taxes on food items and higher on sin items so it seems we historically agree with you. I have not noticed if the "thrift" stores that sell recycled clothing tax equally. Those I would vote for dropping the tax on. Clothing at Walmart maybe if they ONLY carried the bargain stuff. Designer clothes are soo expensive they could be taxed quadruple and it would make little difference.

A side note, One of the relatively poor white sales guys was walking around work talking about how comfy his $150 jeans were. OMG! Every once in awhile I end up with a pair of $45 LEVIs after a birthday. They are nicer than my $9.99 Walmart Rustlers or $19.99 Wanglers I must say but paying $150 for pants just seems like it should disqualify you for any tax deductioms for a decade.

Very good points. Yes, luxury should be taxed, I agree.
But, lets say that the tax rate ( sales tax ) is 8%. The guy that buys the $150 jeans would pay more in tax than the guy that paid $12.99 at Wal-Mart for a pair of jeans. The guy that buys a new BMW would pay more sales tax than the guy buying a 4 year old Chevy pick up. So, the more money one spends, the more taxes they pay. The more one makes, the higher priced goods that can afford, thus the more taxes they would pay for purchases.

The numbers of folks who could afford to pay more for higher priced goods are dwarfed by the number of folks who can afford only the basics. The wealthier consumers can never put up the sales numbers of the poor. There simply aren't enough wealthy consumers to make a dent.

Similarly, the wealthy will survive comfortably after providing the finest goods and services while many of the poor will not have the means for savings after providing the basic necessities. So a "flat tax" is not a fair tax at all. The rich will see their marginal tax rate plummet while the poor will be overtaxed.

 

[Annie]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

Thanks, and I can see your point also. I'm all for a flat tax, if it applies to everyone equally.

No it does not. If after basic living expenses and some pot a poor man who makes $20,000 a year has $0 in the bank the flat tax hits him harder than a fella making $100,000 a year who after feeding his kids, going to Jamaica, buying a BMW, and some coke has $10,000 left.

Missouri has lower taxes on food items and higher on sin items so it seems we historically agree with you. I have not noticed if the "thrift" stores that sell recycled clothing tax equally. Those I would vote for dropping the tax on. Clothing at Walmart maybe if they ONLY carried the bargain stuff. Designer clothes are soo expensive they could be taxed quadruple and it would make little difference.

A side note, One of the relatively poor white sales guys was walking around work talking about how comfy his $150 jeans were. OMG! Every once in awhile I end up with a pair of $45 LEVIs after a birthday. They are nicer than my $9.99 Walmart Rustlers or $19.99 Wanglers I must say but paying $150 for pants just seems like it should disqualify you for any tax deductioms for a decade.

You'll note that in my post I included x % of income per person (in household) should be untaxed. Perhaps $10k or whatever seems most feasible. That would be $30k for a family of 3, untaxed. It would basically cover 'necessities.' It also leaves those at the bottom, without tax obligations. Get rid of the sales tax-let the states also do a flat tax.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Hmm, in principle I understand where you are coming from. What about a $400 Coach purse?

In general I think that a flat tax, with a minimum of income untaxed per person, is a fairer system.

Thanks, and I can see your point also. I'm all for a flat tax, if it applies to everyone equally.

of course that fairest tax of all is dividing the $4 trillion the govt spends into the number of adults in America and sending each of 220 million people an equal bill of $19,000. State and local spending would generate another $19,000 per person.