For A Northeastern State That Is Supposed To Be The Reddest, Pennsylvania Sure Has A lot Of Regulation (schools, calculation)

[Davros]

Only PA can make a flat tax complicated.

[HappyRider]

Originally Posted by Davros

Only PA can make a flat tax complicated.

I thought that is one of the better sides of living in PA. You pay 3.1% of your gross and that is that. I never owe taxes. And none of that fair share crap. Everybody pays the same rate. Why is it complicated? A flat Federal income tax is something even our grandchildren will never see.

[Davros]

Originally Posted by HappyRider

I thought that is one of the better sides of living in PA. You pay 3.1% of your gross and that is that. I never owe taxes. And none of that fair share crap. Everybody pays the same rate. Why is it complicated? A flat Federal income tax is something even our grandchildren will never see.

It's complicated because of all the damn forms and regulations detailing what that gross income is. Everything you do (except collecting a retirement check), PA wants their 3.1% cut.

[Davros]

The Federal Tax should not be flat. It's too big a tax for that to be fair.

If everyone had, say a 15% tax on gross income, well for a lower middle class family that's food off the table and clothes off their back. For a rich guy, that's just investment money or luxury spending that he loses. A 15% tax on the working poor would hurt them way more than a 35% tax on a millionaire hurts him.

[HappyRider]

Originally Posted by Davros

A 15% tax on the working poor would hurt them way more than a 35% tax on a millionaire hurts him.

Ah, so pain and suffering is the criterion for a "fair" tax code. I knew that. You guys have nothing to offer to the poor guy to become a millionaire. It is much easier to drag someone else down. Now we know why you don't like the PA tax code. It is not that it is "complicated". You want others to pay for you. Well, you had that in New York. Go back there.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Davros

The Federal Tax should not be flat. It's too big a tax for that to be fair.

If everyone had, say a 15% tax on gross income, well for a lower middle class family that's food off the table and clothes off their back. For a rich guy, that's just investment money or luxury spending that he loses. A 15% tax on the working poor would hurt them way more than a 35% tax on a millionaire hurts him.

a fixed percent is as fair as it gets. as warren buffet pointed out he pays less than his secretary as a percent of income which means that the progressive tax has a lot of exemptions. a 20% flat tax with an exemption of say $15k is more fair and less complicated imo

[Davros]

Originally Posted by HappyRider

Ah, so pain and suffering is the criterion for a "fair" tax code. I knew that. You guys have nothing to offer to the poor guy to become a millionaire. It is much easier to drag someone else down. Now we know why you don't like the PA tax code. It is not that it is "complicated". You want others to pay for you. Well, you had that in New York. Go back there.

I'm not trying to drag anyone down. You're trying to take more money away from the poor and lower middle classes by increasing their taxes.

I have no problem with the state of PA having a 3% flat tax with tax forgiveness for the poor. I find filling out my PA tax forms equally or more complicated than filling out my federal taxes. This is in spite of PA supposedly having a simple tax code.

Do you think it's fair that PA taxes everything but retirement income?

[Davros]

Originally Posted by pman

a fixed percent is as fair as it gets. as warren buffet pointed out he pays less than his secretary as a percent of income which means that the progressive tax has a lot of exemptions. a 20% flat tax with an exemption of say $15k is more fair and less complicated imo

Do you have an exemption for each family member? That's the only way that would be not devastating for working class families.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Davros

Do you have an exemption for each family member? That's the only way that would be not devastating for working class families.

flat taxes are anything but devastating. $15k is a sizable standard deducation. id be happy to see the percentage lower but given our governments spending that may not be realistic. of course we could lower the percentage, issue debt to prop up spending , and devalue the dollar leading to basic necessities rising faster than working class incomes. oh wait thats today and we have a so called progressive tax. in all seriousness id love to see an exemption that variea based on col. 35k goes a lot further in some places than others yet the feds pretend its the same. the end result is that people in more expenaive places ( those with jobs ) get hammered. the simple reality is no matter how yiu tax people think the taxes are too high and yet we dont even cover what were spending. the pa system is far superior to the federal system. if we all paid the same rate and had to balance the budget wed be in a lot better shape as a couuntry. of course for some reason states dont have to balance pensions only amnual budgets

[Davros]

A family making 45,000 having to shell out 4500 in taxes would find that quite devastating. A family making 30,000 having to shell out 2250 in taxes would find that devastating.

A family making 500,000 and only having to pay 75,000 and keeping 425,000 would be investing much of that or spending it on luxuries. Taking 35 cents and leaving them 65 cents for every dollar they make over 100,000 so that the poor family can keep their 2250 or 4500 doesn't sound too unfair to me.

The poor family needs every dollar. The rich family does not.

The progressive tax system is fair on a federal level.

I have no problem with states having a flat tax.

I wish PA's flat tax involved less paperwork and complex regulation defining gross taxable income.