August 8, 20223 yr 22 minutes ago, vikas83 said: Can't happen because that would require acknowledging that we already have the most graduated income tax system in the developed world where roughly 50% pay nothing. And yet still somehow complain. complaints are rooted more in the "that guy is doing way better than I am, we need to tax the ish out of him to take him down a notch or two" it is always humorous to me to see people living below the median for whatever region complain about taxes and then point to Europe as some kind of example. like, **** you know their tax code is way more regressive don't you? you could simplify America's tax code AND align it more with Europe's with two simple changes: 1. you only really need like two tax brackets. no taxes up to say $10k, some percentage up to the median, and another percentage for dollars over the median. if you want a progressive income tax code fine whatever, but keeping it simple mathematically gets you to 90% of what the current tax bracket structure does with a much easier calculation. I'd index it to the median income, and say up to 20% of the median you have no taxes, 20-50% of the median you pay a flat say 12%, then over 50% you pay a flat 20%. 2. add a national sales or value-added tax. exclude essentials if want, but we're trying to simplify so let's not get too freaking crazy. this is off the cuff and I've not thought it all through or considered optimal tax policies, but if your goal is to be roughly revenue neutral, simplify, and align more with Europe that gets you there as an academic exercise. and all you near/under median poors would end up paying way more.
August 8, 20223 yr Just now, JohnSnowsHair said: complaints are rooted more in the "that guy is doing way better than I am, we need to tax the ish out of him to take him down a notch or two" it is always humorous to me to see people living below the median for whatever region complain about taxes and then point to Europe as some kind of example. like, **** you know their tax code is way more regressive don't you? you could simplify America's tax code AND align it more with Europe's with two simple changes: 1. you only really need like two tax brackets. no taxes up to say $10k, some percentage up to the median, and another percentage for dollars over the median. if you want a progressive income tax code fine whatever, but keeping it simple mathematically gets you to 90% of what the current tax bracket structure does with a much easier calculation. I'd index it to the median income, and say up to 20% of the median you have no taxes, 20-50% of the median you pay a flat say 12%, then over 50% you pay a flat 20%. 2. add a national sales or value-added tax. exclude essentials if want, but we're trying to simplify so let's not get too freaking crazy. this is off the cuff and I've not thought at all about optimal tax policies, but if your goal is to be roughly revenue neutral, simplify, and align more with Europe that gets you there as an academic exercise. and all you near/under median poors would end up paying way more. Yeah, but then the tax base would actually be robust and spread out. And all those people paying nothing will be forced to start paying into the system...so that's not happening.
August 8, 20223 yr 2 minutes ago, DEagle7 said: Tax Vikas They already do. Massively. Tax the freeloading losers. Try something new.
August 8, 20223 yr 21 minutes ago, vikas83 said: They already do. Massively. Tax the freeloading losers. Try something new. Whatever you say Arjun Musk. AOC told me all about you hoarding 1%ers.
August 9, 20223 yr 1 minute ago, NCTANK said: wow, is he toasted or what? Trump? Not looking good for him..
August 9, 20223 yr President Biden coughing & sneezing his way through a speech right now. get better soon, Mr. President. our country needs you!
August 9, 20223 yr https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/09/biden-ends-slog-on-semiconductor-bill-with-signature-00050530 President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science bill into law Tuesday, authorizing $52 billion in subsidies for semiconductor production and boosting funding for research. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/09/biden-nato-membership-finland-sweden-00050584 President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed NATO accession protocols for Finland and Sweden, moving the defense alliance closer to adding two wealthy, militarily advanced members amid Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine. While the fat loser was busy hoarding classified docs and getting busted, Biden was casually piling up wins for America and the world.
August 9, 20223 yr On 8/8/2022 at 9:44 AM, JohnSnowsHair said: if the IRS was rightsized it wouldn't be an issue. it's undersized. that's just reality. it's great for those who want to get away with not fulfilling their tax obligations. my accountant certainly seems to have played that angle in terms of how aggressively he pursues certain tax savings given some of the complexities I've foisted upon myself. The IRS is an oversized agency dealing with an overly complicated tax code. The fix is simple: flat tax for everyone regardless of income. Alternatively (and preferably): flat sales tax on everything.
August 9, 20223 yr Author Yeah, the IRS is so oversized that they're still processing returns from two years ago
August 9, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, EaglesRocker97 said: Yeah, the IRS is so oversized that they're still processing returns from two years ago Unionized workers know what a "slow down" order is.
August 10, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, TEW said: The IRS is an oversized agency dealing with an overly complicated tax code. The fix is simple: flat tax for everyone regardless of income. Alternatively (and preferably): flat sales tax on everything. In 1990, a few years after the rarest legislation in Washington: tax reform that slimmed down the tax code, the IRS employed almost 120k people. The US population at the time was 250m. 32 years later we have 350m or thereabouts in population, a more complicated tax code, and 40k fewer IRS employees. As I posted earlier I'd support simplification of the tax code and an expansion of the tax base. I'd support a VAT. I'd also love a solid gold toilet and a hall pass to disappoint Salma Hayek for a week. Both are more likely. Within that reality, expanding the IRS workforce makes sense. It's probably the cheapest way to raise revenue, and since neither party is going to stop spending this is among the least bad options. You can either be practical or live in a fantasy world. You can't be both.
August 10, 20223 yr And there have been very few technological advances or other changes in the world of business since 1990 so there should be a direct linear relationship between population and IRS staffing levels
August 10, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, JohnSnowsHair said: In 1990, a few years after the rarest legislation in Washington: tax reform that slimmed down the tax code, the IRS employed almost 120k people. The US population at the time was 250m. 32 years later we have 350m or thereabouts in population, a more complicated tax code, and 40k fewer IRS employees. As I posted earlier I'd support simplification of the tax code and an expansion of the tax base. I'd support a VAT. I'd also love a solid gold toilet and a hall pass to disappoint Salma Hayek for a week. Both are more likely. Within that reality, expanding the IRS workforce makes sense. It's probably the cheapest way to raise revenue, and since neither party is going to stop spending this is among the least bad options. You can either be practical or live in a fantasy world. You can't be both. Practical is not the way to describe failing bigger and harder
August 10, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, JohnSnowsHair said: In 1990, a few years after the rarest legislation in Washington: tax reform that slimmed down the tax code, the IRS employed almost 120k people. The US population at the time was 250m. 32 years later we have 350m or thereabouts in population, a more complicated tax code, and 40k fewer IRS employees. As I posted earlier I'd support simplification of the tax code and an expansion of the tax base. I'd support a VAT. I'd also love a solid gold toilet and a hall pass to disappoint Salma Hayek for a week. Both are more likely. Within that reality, expanding the IRS workforce makes sense. It's probably the cheapest way to raise revenue, and since neither party is going to stop spending this is among the least bad options. You can either be practical or live in a fantasy world. You can't be both. In the real world, marginal increases to tax receipts are largely a function of capital gains. And you aren’t going to get marginal increases in capital gains taxes in deflated markets. And as long as we are talking real world, let’s just dispense with the idea that this will do anything at all to improve our nations finances. Because we all know it won’t. The government isn’t going to balance the books — you’ll be having your fun with Selma Hayek long before that ever happens. To the contrary, any new revenue will simply be a new high water mark from which to deficit spend more. So the bottom line effect is that that the government will still spend too much, all of the new revenue will be squandered, but we will now have an IRS twice the size full of worthless bureaucrats that we can never get rid of who will do little more than harass people. In short, it makes the country worse. That’s the real world.
August 10, 20223 yr On 8/8/2022 at 1:12 PM, greenskeeper said: flat tax, exempt below a certain income for the poors No exemptions. Step one — literally step one — to fixing this country is making the poors pay their own way.
August 10, 20223 yr 20 hours ago, mr_hunt said: President Biden coughing & sneezing his way through a speech right now. get better soon, Mr. President. our country needs you!
August 10, 20223 yr I'd say the IRS is properly staffed but just like every other government agency - lazy and poor at their job.
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