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-- Abolish Income Tax


Posted by Yoepus on Jan-17-2004 20:30:

Abolish Income Tax

I saw a few of these got into this with Moore supporting Clark.

As a recent college graduate (just a month out) who has just found a very very nice well-paying contract for the next three years, I am appalled to come to the realization that probably 30% of all my income will be taken away from me before I get to spend it.

Most of this money that I am getting paid right now I wanted to save, not spend, and when 30% of it already gets taken off I'm left with little to save.

Already 30% of my money is gone, if I am actually to spend the rest and own a home, property taxes and sales tax will cumulate to 50% of my taxes gone.

I believe that the income tax is not only morally unfair, but decreases the size of our economy dramatically (the tax base). It costs business and people a lot of time and money, and that costs the government time and money.


What are your opinion on the income tax, should we replace it with a national sales tax?


Some links I dug up on the topic:
legislation on the books: http://www.salestax.org/salestax.htm

organization against income tax: http://www.fairtax.org/

the moral argument: http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/income.html

ohh heres another link.. comparsion:
http://www.fairtaxvolunteer.org/materials/comparison.html#_ftn1

I've heard this figure thrown out before, that the current income tax costs us $225 billion in annual compliance costs.


Posted by Shakka on Jan-17-2004 21:07:

Taxes are a real eye-shocker when you first start working and you see how much of your paycheck never makes it into your hands, but you get used to it after a while. But you're right--you'll end up giving at least 30% of every dollar you earn to the government or somewhere else. It's very difficult to have everything you want once you realize what your net take-home pay is. Some other things to expect to come out of your paycheck:

Federal Taxes
State Taxes
Social Security...

Health insurance (Insurance premiums have been on the rise too, in part due to the lottery judgement problem, and hence the need for tort reform)
Dental Insurance (usually pretty minimal)
Retirement savings (401k, IRA, or whatever your company may offer).

Once all of that is taken care of you finally get access to your own leftovers to pay for rent, food, entertainment, student loans, etc.

Fortunately for us (unfortunately for Dean, Clark, etc) tax hikes should be harder to pass than tax cuts!

We threw the idea of a consumption tax out in another thread--an idea I thought sounded pretty good. I also liked Occrider's suggestion to have the matrix/catalog of what the taxes would be on stuff--I just don't think it will ever become a reality, and I know that it would have problems just like any other tax solution, I just don't know what they would necessarily be yet.


Posted by imokruok on Jan-18-2004 05:22:

1) Yes, it does suck. But I'm glad US rates are still low compared to other Western societies. Keep in mind we don't have 20% VATs either, and several states don't collect their own income taxes.

2) Watch the President's State of the Union address on Tuesday night. While there will likely be no call for additional tax cuts, rumor has it that new tax-free savings accounts will be proposed. They would override the current IRA system, allow for greater contributions, and all investments would accumulate and be able to be withdrawn tax-free. It's certainly a lot better than the Social Security system, which makes about 2%/year on your money. (If we can't kill SS altogether, perhaps we can simply circumvent it.)


Posted by failsafe on Jan-18-2004 08:09:

consider yourself lucky if you're only paying 30%. Though like with everything in life, you get what you pay for. More taxes often equal better social services, and fedrally funded roads/culture/welfare/healthcare/etc/


Posted by SilentEagle on Jan-19-2004 00:00:

quote:
Originally posted by failsafe
consider yourself lucky if you're only paying 30%. Though like with everything in life, you get what you pay for. More taxes often equal better social services, and fedrally funded roads/culture/welfare/healthcare/etc/


They also cause more waste of funds on bureaucracy & administration. In the end, both the European and the American systems have their advantages, but that doesnt stop me from considering a life outside of Europe.


Posted by malek on Jan-19-2004 06:11:

welcome to the real world.


Posted by Yoepus on Jan-19-2004 06:21:

I have no problem paying to help subsudize education and the basic life services like police, fire, and ambulances. But 30% before I get to touch my money and then 50% by the end of the day is just crazy.. especially for a guy fresh out of college, who could use this money to further fuel the economy


Posted by LiquidX on Jan-19-2004 06:55:

quote:
Originally posted by Yoepus
I have no problem paying to help subsudize education and the basic life services like police, fire, and ambulances. But 30% before I get to touch my money and then 50% by the end of the day is just crazy.. especially for a guy fresh out of college, who could use this money to further fuel the economy


esactly.. cant there at least be a limit, and tax those allready with an income above 80,000 or so.. or at least stay by taxing companies, or maybe when a person is ready to pay taxes, but to college students and such.. eemm.. kinda crazy, especially when one is funding and stablishing their economic needs and new life.


Posted by Yoepus on Jan-19-2004 16:11:

quote:
Originally posted by LiquidX
esactly.. cant there at least be a limit, and tax those allready with an income above 80,000 or so.. or at least stay by taxing companies, or maybe when a person is ready to pay taxes, but to college students and such.. eemm.. kinda crazy, especially when one is funding and stablishing their economic needs and new life.



ya thinking about it, I'd probably be content if they gave post-college students a 3 year tax break... by then surely I will have figured out a way to evade my taxes


Posted by malek on Jan-19-2004 17:01:

quote:
Originally posted by Yoepus
ya thinking about it, I'd probably be content if they gave post-college students a 3 year tax break... by then surely I will have figured out a way to evade my taxes


then why not give a tax break to pregnant women, men with suicidal tendacies, people with crossed eyes, etc etc etc

i am too paying 30%, plus 15% sale tax over here, and just got out of university, so yes not much left... I am trying to be funny and forget about it


Posted by St_Andrew on Jan-19-2004 17:19:

sweden = 50% taxes for people earning more than about 20 000$ a year... plus 10-25 % VAT

i'm not complaining though, we have a good welfare state


Posted by dj adagnitio on Jan-19-2004 17:30:

The real problem in the states is that taxes are far too low and their are far too many loopholes. If taxes were higher then your health care and education systems wouldn't be in the situation they now are.


Posted by Yoepus on Jan-19-2004 21:52:

quote:
Originally posted by dj adagnitio
The real problem in the states is that taxes are far too low and their are far too many loopholes. If taxes were higher then your health care and education systems wouldn't be in the situation they now are.


don't worry you have health insurance, and educational loans to keep government out and retain the US with the best health care and higher education systems ih the world. If you want, count them as tax and your income decrease to even nicer looking size


Posted by occrider on Jan-19-2004 22:37:

quote:
Originally posted by dj adagnitio
The real problem in the states is that taxes are far too low and their are far too many loopholes. If taxes were higher then your health care and education systems wouldn't be in the situation they now are.


Or perhaps US drug companies should sell drugs to Canada at the same price as they sell to US citizens.


I'll never understand the lunacy of how that works.



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