Ethics of Income Taxes (accuse, pros and cons, conspiracy, school)
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I think a simple 3 step flat tax on income with everyone, every company, so called non-profits, and churches,, EVERYONE pays. 5, 15, 25 with at least a 5 percent tax being paid. No deductions. Just pay.
I'd favor 1 percentage for all, same for people and corp profits.
It did, but I am simply for a same percentage for all plan. No deductions or personal/dependent exemptions, and all file as either single or corp, since we vote as single people.
It did, but I am simply for a same percentage for all plan. No deductions or personal/dependent exemptions, and all file as either single or corp, since we vote as single people.
Well, actually, I do also agree that ALL should have 'skin in the game' - so I'm with you there!
i believe everybody should pay 15% tax, no matter how much money you make, no deductions, no loophole, you make one dollar, send in 15 cent, no and or buts, flat rate
really it should be no income tax but a sales tax, that way people working for cash under table would have to pay tax too
i believe everybody should pay 15% tax, no matter how much money you make, no deductions, no loophole, you make one dollar, send in 15 cent, no and or buts, flat rate
really it should be no income tax but a sales tax, that way people working for cash under table would have to pay tax too
And who actually spends more of their income in sales, you guessed it the 99%. You are effectively giving the 1% a tax cut.
I agree that we need to revise the tax code so that the loopholes that rich people often take advantage of are closed, but I think we ought to keep the credits/deductions that help poor and middle-class people and aren't subject to manipulation (e.g. student loan and mortgage interest deduction, exemptions/credits for children and other dependents, credits to avoid "double taxation" on foreign income*, etc.).
*I vehemently support the U.S. going to a residence-based taxation system (like 99% of other countries do) instead of the citizenship-based system in place now (which despite the exclusions and credits available puts an undue burden on expats when it comes to filing their returns, given that it's much harder to find qualified professionals to prepare a U.S. tax return outside the country - it's so bad that the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship for that reason has spiked in recent years, along with the implementation of FATCA burdening banks that deal with Americans living in their country). Our politicians need to distinguish between "tax cheats" (those living in America trying to hide assets in other countries and moving their business offshore to avoid taxation) and Americans legitimately living in other countries who are being unduly burdened with the U.S. government's tactics.
02: Combined with a 5 cent 'tax' on all emails (incoming and outgoing)
To make that fair, the 5 cent tax would have to apply to all forms of communication that can be taxed, not just email. Because different people have different preferences for how they communicate in different situations. Text messages vs phone calls vs email, etc. And it would have to be for outgoing only. You would pay the 5 cents if you called someone else, not if they called you. What if they're a telemarketer?
On the other hand, is it really compatible with freedom of speech for the government to even know how much communication you do?
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The income tax is theft of peoples money by force.
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Slavery ... labor of one man is claimed by another.
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What tax is not theft of peoples money by force? How is income tax theft if other taxes aren't?
What if it were illegal to use corporal punishment against slaves? Would they still do the work? What is slavery, if it doesn't include the right to punish the slaves for failure to do the work?
Income tax is different than slavery. You can refuse to work, or only work a small amount. You're only taxed on the work you do voluntarily.
Income tax is easy to cheat by working under the table. If you're in the 1%, you can cheat by technically earning your income in a "tax haven" country, or by earning it in complicated ways that defeat the definition of income.
I originally intended this debate to be about the ethical differences between different income tax rates. But since it's evolved into a more general debate about taxes in general, I would like to point out that the single most important aspect of a tax scheme is that it be hard enough to cheat that nobody even tries to cheat it. Because, once someone succeeds in cheating, others are motivated to cheat, and eventually everyone gets in the habit of breaking tax laws, which gradually pushes them in the direction of breaking other laws, till the general population becomes outlaws. A society of outlaws is not desirable to the general public. Therefore taxes that are easy to cheat aren't either.
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You are effectively giving the 1% a tax cut.
