[The Toddster]

Oh, I know. Kentucky has been a net tax taker for decades. In my previous post I said that the state voted blue religiously, but that's only in state elections. They haven't been as consistent in federal elections.

[WisconsinVegasHeights]

Originally Posted by Commander666

$14.26 is avg pay at WMT, that's almost double min wage. Why do people think the govt has any right to tell WMT to pay more, why, Benito?

So why in the hell was I paid less than seven dollars an hour in 2006 working in a freezer and refrigerator, and cutting open rotten beef tongues and disposing of them.

Compared to those days, every day now is like Christmas eve.

[Jeers McGee]

Originally Posted by The Toddster

This assumes that no one makes any changes to avoid or otherwise minimize the increased tax hit. There's this idea that we can simply raise tax rates to whatever level and people will simply sit there and take it.

You make the lowest 33% pay 7.77% income taxes a lot of America's problems go away.

[EA]

Make everyone pay 0 in taxes and the government can do go fund mes for everything they want to do.

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by The Toddster

I don't think it's fair to call them loopholes when you're simply adhering to the tax laws that our penal code requires you to obey

Exactly. Avoiding as much ordinary income as possible is probably the simplest loophole. It’s why many times we’ll put money back into a property if it’ll increase rents because then you dispose of the income / taxation and at the same time increase the value of the asset, which if it ever sells is a capital gain not ordinary income. Then depreciation can wipe out a bunch of the income too. Finally you’ve lowered your basis a bunch and when you sell you’d rather not pay a bunch of taxes even if it’s capital gains, so you can 1031 exchange the money into another asset and start the depreciation process anew. Or throw the capital gains into a qualified opportunity zone and avoid paying them until 2026 and get a basis step up. There are all kinds of fun ways to make sure taxes are something other people pay and delay them yourself as long as possible. By the time you pay much taxes, you’re so wealthy it hardly matters.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by The Toddster

I don't think it's fair to call them loopholes when you're simply adhering to the tax laws that our penal code requires you to obey

A 'tax loophole' is a tax law that lowers taxes for some, but not you.

[Commander666]

Originally Posted by JonathanLB

Exactly. Avoiding as much ordinary income as possible is probably the simplest loophole. It’s why many times we’ll put money back into a property if it’ll increase rents because then you dispose of the income / taxation and at the same time increase the value of the asset, which if it ever sells is a capital gain not ordinary income. Then depreciation can wipe out a bunch of the income too. Finally you’ve lowered your basis a bunch and when you sell you’d rather not pay a bunch of taxes even if it’s capital gains, so you can 1031 exchange the money into another asset and start the depreciation process anew. Or throw the capital gains into a qualified opportunity zone and avoid paying them until 2026 and get a basis step up. There are all kinds of fun ways to make sure taxes are something other people pay and delay them yourself as long as possible. By the time you pay much taxes, you’re so wealthy it hardly matters.

Capital gains taxes are very unfair and need to be re-written. The most obvious being a $3k max loss write off, another being the wash rule.

[orca17]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

I've been saying this for how long now???????

You guys want a stadium? ...Pay for it with your own money!

You want decent roads and decent schools? ...Pay for them yourselves!

Quit unloading everything on the tourists!

If I want gambling, I can drive out to Palm Springs now. If I want entertainment, I've got the Hollywood Bowl in my backyard, along with many, many other forums nearby.

Why should I swelter in a car for 5+ hours (one way) to go and pay your taxes for you??? What do I get for it?

By all means, stay in California, and play in casinos that have unregulated takes, so there is no limit on their take (it's limited to three percent here).

Cities all over the country tax businesses, and impose resort taxes to pay for local amenities. Deal with it, or stay home.

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by orca17

By all means, stay in California, and play in casinos that have unregulated takes, so there is no limit on their take (it's limited to three percent here).

Cities all over the country tax businesses, and impose resort taxes to pay for local amenities. Deal with it, or stay home.

And many people are doing exactly that....

[RationalExpectations]

Once people start to complain about loopholes, I sure wish they would be specific. For example, I wish they would name 5 honest-to-goodness loopholes.