Do you think we need the IRS?

[werepossum]

Dreams, nothing but dreams. The IRS is here to stay and will grow larger and more powerful. It's an enforcement arm of the government.

Making government smaller is not something that benefits politicians and they make the rules.

This.

Besides, we must have some mechanism of raising federal capital, else Mexico or Canada could simply annex us. (Okay, maybe Canada couldn't, but still.) I would however greatly prefer something like the FairTax, or a combination of sales tax and tariffs, to such a large, powerful organization.

 

[Lithium381]

At the very least simplify the personal income tax scheme! 10 brackets and a limit of 100 deductions if which 70% or more of the population must qualify to receive; ie no breaks just for the super rich. Make the postcard tax return a reality for individuals.

Save everyonr 10 hours and $150 a year! That would save the irs quite a bit of time!

 

[piasabird]

Congress writes as many stupid tax laws as they can to benefit different groups so we will hate each other. The IRS just try to administer the laws and collect money. We dont really need higher taxes we just need fewer giftwrapped credits and benefits to help some segment of the population that the elected Facists are trying to bribe. Farmers, Foodstamps, single parents, Senior Citizens, home owners, wall-street, working poor, solar panels, electric cars, tobacco, electric companies, tax abatements, political contributions, Donations, tax exempt, welfare, energy savings, retirement, investments. Got so many freebees that no one really pays taxes at the tax rate.

 

[UberNeuman]

Jesus, man - if you're going to a offer a poll, then take the time to spell it correctly...

 

[Incorruptible]

No, We don't need the IRS. They are a massive waste of money and they have shown that they can't be trusted.

 

[Ketchup]

Jesus, man - if you're going to a offer a poll, then take the time to spell it correctly...

Fixed, just for you.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Dreams, nothing but dreams. The IRS is here to stay and will grow larger and more powerful. It's an enforcement arm of the government.

Making government smaller is not something that benefits politicians and they make the rules.

One of you actually gets what is going on. Boomerang you might be the smartest person in this forum. It's nice to know you, sir.

 

[HendrixFan]

Blaming the IRS instead of Congress for the fucked up mess that is the U.S. tax system is stupid. The IRS just administers what's in the Tax Code. Thinking they're at fault is like blaming the hospital billing department for sending you an invoice after a physician provides unnecessary treatment.

Absolutely.

I can only conclude that "IRS" is a term being used here for the tax code and not referring specifically to the administration that processes tax claims.

 

[PokerGuy]

Absolutely not, we don't need a politically controlled behemoth government institution with vast expansive powers. In order to get rid of it though, we'd first need to fix the tax code, it should be vastly simplified and not be used for social engineering, rewarding cronies/lobbyists, welfare etc.

 

[Elfear]

No, We don't need the IRS. They are a massive waste of money and they have shown that they can't be trusted.

And trust citizens and corporations alike to send in their tax obligations on their own? I'm sure everyone will adhere to the honor system. :hmm:

 

[IGBT]

go to a flat tax or similar and you can greatly reduce their foot print and strangle hold.

 

[Anarchist420]

Since the income tax is internal revenue, the Internal Revenue Service appears necessary.

If we switched to a purely external revenue system (like tariffs) or simply abolished the taxation power of the U.S. govt, then it wouldn't appear necessary.

 

[PokerGuy]

And trust citizens and corporations alike to send in their tax obligations on their own? I'm sure everyone will adhere to the honor system. :hmm:

We do need AN internal revenue service, but not the political inefficient behemoth we have now. We need a vastly stripped down version, but that can only happen if we create a new streamlined tax code.

 

[piasabird]

Something like a flat tax seems like a good idea. The problem is no one wants to give up their favorite deductions and credit. However if we approached this from a different direction it might work better. Romney had some Ideas that we could just start to limit what the higher-end tax payers were allowed to itemize. I might approach this from an even simpler approach and just look at the income and start by just saying everyone that makes over 250k gets no exemptions or credits. After you get to a certain income level you should not need any help from the government for anything. No handouts for rich people.

If we just fased out some of the deductions over time it might work better like that. The hatchet method may be a little too much. Like the real estate deductions for interest and real estate taxes could be fased out or reduced by 1/10th every year till it gets to zero. Same for Business deductions and tax abatements. I think the problem with O'Bammacare was that it is too much all at once and it is just not well thought out.

Some of my reasoning is that some of the biggest deductions on taxes is for people who own houses that are really expensive. In other words it benefits the rich more than the poor. Some of these laws were written for times when houses costed a lot less. It is time to modernize how we look at things.

 

[piasabird]

It could also be possible to have a hybrid system that is part consumption tax and part income tax. I also had some ideas for a Wall-Street transaction tax.

 

[piasabird]

I think we should also change how we tax Gasoline. Cars should have weight classes and the tax should also be based on the Weight and milage. The object should be to pay for road maintenance. Heavier vehicles damage the roadway more. If you buy a compact car lower tax if you buy a heavier car like a giant SUV you pay more.

 

[Ketchup]

I think we should also change how we tax Gasoline. Cars should have weight classes and the tax should also be based on the Weight and milage. The object should be to pay for road maintenance. Heavier vehicles damage the roadway more. If you buy a compact car lower tax if you buy a heavier car like a giant SUV you pay more.

I guess one could argue that the mileage of said heavier vehicles takes care of themselves, but your point is understood. I just think enforcement of such a thing would be costly if not impossible.

 

[Elfear]

We do need AN internal revenue service, but not the political inefficient behemoth we have now. We need a vastly stripped down version, but that can only happen if we create a new streamlined tax code.

I agree with you there. I was just pointing out that we do need some kind of tax collection agency.

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[hal2kilo]

Blaming the IRS instead of Congress for the fucked up mess that is the U.S. tax system is stupid. The IRS just administers what's in the Tax Code. Thinking they're at fault is like blaming the hospital billing department for sending you an invoice after a physician provides unnecessary treatment.

I don't get the attacks on the IRS these days. They are only carrying out the laws that were written by congress.

More libertard musings of a fantasy society that exists solely in their libertopia minds.

 

[Fern]

Do we need the IRS? No way. The IRS is corrupt and out of control and they change the the tax code without oversight much of the time.

Do we need some group charged with collecting taxes? Sure, I doubt anyone would argue against this. We need an organization with strict limitations which is NOT autonomous.

The IRS is "NOT autonomous". The IRS is under the Treasury Dept. The Treas is under the President (Obama in this case).

Also, the Constitution places the power to tax/raise revenue soley with Congress. I.e., Congress tells the IRS what our tax laws are. The IRS cannot make them up. Additionally, the judicial system lords over the IRS.

Fern

 

[Incorruptible]

I don't get the attacks on the IRS these days. They are only carrying out the laws that were written by congress.

More libertard musings of a fantasy society that exists solely in their libertopia minds.

The US was built on Libertarianism.