The American Tax System (wages, salaries, drug, regular)
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Something has been bugging me lately. When you purchase a car (using car as an example) you pay tax. A $20,000. car @ 7% ends up bringing $1400. in tax......Now 4 years later you sell the car for let's say, $10,000. Now that new buyer has to pay tax at the DMV when they plate & title it, there's another $700. and this cycle keeps repeating until the car is sitting in old man Billy Bobs junk yard being parted out...but wait, Billy Bob has to charge TAX as well. So how the hell can our government/system justify re-taxing the same item over and over again? How do we as citizens go about fighting this?
There's really no other way to see it. An item should ONLY BE TAXED ONE TIME. Period.
I'm not into politics (or religion) but this one thing has really been on my mind and when I bring it up to people they act suprized, like they never even thought about it. Are we that blind to what is going on with taxing?
Something has been bugging me lately. When you purchase a car (using car as an example) you pay tax. A $20,000. car @ 7% ends up bringing $1400. in tax......Now 4 years later you sell the car for let's say, $10,000. Now that new buyer has to pay tax at the DMV when they plate & title it, there's another $700. and this cycle keeps repeating until the car is sitting in old man Billy Bobs junk yard being parted out...but wait, Billy Bob has to charge TAX as well. So how the hell can our government/system justify re-taxing the same item over and over again? How do we as citizens go about fighting this?
There's really no other way to see it. An item should ONLY BE TAXED ONE TIME. Period.
I'm not into politics (or religion) but this one thing has really been on my mind and when I bring it up to people they act suprized, like they never even thought about it. Are we that blind to what is going on with taxing?
Quite right. Sales has always implied retail sales. It is not a VAT that is applied for every transaction at every stage. Private sales do not count, although it's kind of cute the government wants you to think that.
I've never let the government know about any private transactions and never will. As far as cars are concerned, just like most people you can say you sold it for whatever you wanted it sold for thus neutralizing at least some of those taxes. I wouldn't recommend everyone claimed they sold their car for $1, but you get the idea. If the government tried to tax every item at every stage of sale, it will simply not have the manpower to enforce that law and will be subject to fraud.
I am opposed to any sales, excise and property taxes because these tax the lower income people proportionately more than the higher income. I believe tax system should be based entirely on income from all sources and Federal tariffs on imported goods.
I have proposed a Federal Income tax that is based on all income from all sources. There would be a basic deduction equal to 150% of the nationwide mean income with the rest taxed between 20 and 85% on a logarithmic basis. The total tax collected would be set to maintain a balanced budget.
Import businesses would be subject to tariffs set to eliminate the difference in costs related to wages and environmental costs. Other businesses would not pay income tax on dividends but would on retained capital. The owners would pay tax on the dividends at the rate proportional to their individual income less the base deductable.
This system would allow most workers to keep their salaries and spend them however they want. It would also become a deterrent to excessive executive compensation as most of a multimillion dollar “compensation package” would go directly to the government.
View From the peak - I am surprised that a person that adamantly insists on the equal application of Law to everyone is so willing to commit tax fraud just because the expectation of being caught is so low. Are you willing to apply the idea to drug dealers because they are unlikely to be caught? How about the other fraudulent business and investment schemes?
Why is someone as decidedly conservative as you so willing to engage in criminal activity? It is unbecoming to you and your fellow conservatives. If you object to sales taxes, work politically to have them removed. I suggest replacing them with a progressive income tax to fairly apply the burden of enforcing the law to the folks that benefit most from the law.
View From the peak - I am surprised that a person that adamantly insists on the equal application of Law to everyone is so willing to commit tax fraud just because the expectation of being caught is so low. Are you willing to apply the idea to drug dealers because they are unlikely to be caught? How about the other fraudulent business and investment schemes?
Why is someone as decidedly conservative as you so willing to engage in criminal activity? It is unbecoming to you and your fellow conservatives. If you object to sales taxes, work politically to have them removed. I suggest replacing them with a progressive income tax to fairly apply the burden of enforcing the law to the folks that benefit most from the law.
When the laws become too pervasive, you don't simply say "yes sir" and follow them. I would follow laws as much as I need not to blatantly risk ending up in the slammer. I will also not expose myself on a forum for those I deem inappropriate. Corporations are responsible for paying sales tax, not private individuals to other private individuals. That idea is perverse.
When was the last time anyone claimed concert tickets someone gave them for free or claimed yard sale transactions? When was the last time someone surrendered themselves for smoking a little dope with their friends?
Something has been bugging me lately. When you purchase a car (using car as an example) you pay tax. A $20,000. car @ 7% ends up bringing $1400. in tax......Now 4 years later you sell the car for let's say, $10,000. Now that new buyer has to pay tax at the DMV when they plate & title it, there's another $700. and this cycle keeps repeating until the car is sitting in old man Billy Bobs junk yard being parted out...but wait, Billy Bob has to charge TAX as well. So how the hell can our government/system justify re-taxing the same item over and over again? How do we as citizens go about fighting this?
There's really no other way to see it. An item should ONLY BE TAXED ONE TIME. Period.
I'm not into politics (or religion) but this one thing has really been on my mind and when I bring it up to people they act suprized, like they never even thought about it. Are we that blind to what is going on with taxing?
A sales tax is a transaction tax. The transaction is being taxed, not the item. So each time an item is sold that creates a separate transaction, and therefore a separate tax.
As GregW suggests, if you don't like the law, work to change it.
... Corporations are responsible for paying sales tax, not private individuals to other private individuals. That idea is perverse....
Where did you get this idea? It was not the intent of the lawmakers when the sales tax laws were enacted to only tax corporations. It clearly is a tax intended to be imposed on a purchaser, whether a business or an individual.
Where did you get this idea? It was not the intent of the lawmakers when the sales tax laws were enacted to only tax corporations. It clearly is a tax intended to be imposed on a purchaser, whether a business or an individual.
I disagree. There are already laws preventing an individual from performing volume transactions, pretending to act as a corporation to save $$$. If those laws are enforced, there would not be a need for sales taxes on private transactions.
When you start paying the state government for your garage sale transactions, you'll stand on firmer ground.
I disagree. There are already laws preventing an individual from performing volume transactions, pretending to act as a corporation to save $$$. If those laws are enforced, there would not be a need for sales taxes on private transactions.
When you start paying the state government for your garage sale transactions, you'll stand on firmer ground.
I only know the sales and use tax laws of my own state (Maryland), as I recently retired after over 30 years as a state and local tax expert. In Maryland, there is an exemption for something called a casual and isolated sale, as long as certain criteria is met, in order to excuse someone who is not regularly in the business of making sales from having to collect the tax. But if the sale is over a certain dollar amount, or if the person regularly conducts garage sales (as many people do) that exemption is lost.
Keep in mind that the seller is not the one who is supposed to pay the tax; it's the buyer. The seller is only responsible for collecting it, and then paying it over.
Many critics consider the sales tax to be a regressive tax, and in many ways it is, as lower income people pay proportionately more in comparison to their income. But if the tax is structured so that neccessities like groceries and medical supplies are exempt, then it becomes more fair. I personally believe that more services sould be taxed - things like landscaping and health clubs for example. Poor people aren't paying for these types of services, and those who can afford to pay them can afford the tax on them IMO.
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