How would you fix the broken tax system?

[jhu]

This is rather backwards. Before asking how to change the tax code, you should be asking what services government should/should not take on.

 

[Phokus]

Admit it. By "red-stater", you mean "white people."

Yes, there are no blue state white people, you got me.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

fair tax.

 

[Anubis]

1) make everyone pay it. no deductions no BS

there prob solved

we now have 100% of the people paying it and not the under 50% that we have now

 

[MovingTarget]

Keep the current tax brackets the way they are. Eliminate non-charitable deductions entirely. Treat all income equally (no separate capital gains rate). Remove the AMT. Eliminate the SS cap. Reinstate the estate tax in full.

This would do loads for true economic/social mobility in the US.

 

[MovingTarget]

Yes, there are no blue state white people, you got me.

Does this mean that there are no red-state black people either? :hmm:

 

[OCGuy]

Does this mean that there are no red-state black people either? :hmm:

By identifying the people he was talking about by voting patterns instead of geographic location or economic class, it is obvious what he meant.

 

[masteryoda34]

All of you are ignoring Hauser's Law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauser's_Law

Summary: Marginal tax rates have varied widely in post-WWII America. Federal Tax receipts always remain ~18% of GDP. This is an empirical observation.

Obviously this trend would not hold up under the extremes (0% or 100% marginal tax rates).

 

[child of wonder]

All of you are ignoring Hauser's Law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauser's_Law

Summary: Marginal tax rates have varied widely in post-WWII America. Federal Tax receipts always remain ~18% of GDP. This is an empirical observation.

Obviously this trend would not hold up under the extremes (0% or 100% marginal tax rates).

This means our tax system is bunk. The government either needs to cut expenses to keep them at or below ~18% of GDP or develop a new system of taxation.

 

[masteryoda34]

This means our tax system is bunk. The government either needs to cut expenses to keep them at or below ~18% of GDP or develop a new system of taxation.

Yes. But neither option is politically expedient, so it won't happen.

 

[Schadenfroh]

No deductions or write-offs for individuals or organizations. Non-profit, religious, and/or charity organizations have to pay taxes as well.

Put in place a simple bracket system based on percentage of income, increasing as one goes further up the income pyramid.

These are just random numbers to demonstrate, the actual percentages and number of brackets would have to be hammered out by people that know more about it than me.

10% of income for lowest
20% of income for middle
30% of income for high

 

[Lifted]

Non-profit, religious, and/or charity organizations have to pay taxes as well.

I'm not religious at all, but that has to be the absolute worst idea to raise taxes that I've ever read.

No deductions or write-offs for individuals or organizations.

You're saying businesses should pay taxes on revenue and not profit?

 

[dmcowen674]

How would you fix the broken tax system?

The tax system in the US is broken. How would you fix it?

It's not broken.

The rich pay nothing, the peons pay for everything.

Working as designed.

 

[Lithium381]

i would start by not making the illigal immigrants pay taxes, then i would make sure that if you can't afford to have kids you would get $5000 for each kid that you had, then i would take the remainder of what is brought in and use it to pay for the pensions of the union state members that all somehow got promotions the day before they retired

 

[OCGuy]

It's not broken.

The rich pay nothing, the peons pay for everything.

Working as designed.

.....

 

[Zebo]

Change from an income tax to a consumption tax.

It's a bit more involved than that, but that is the general idea.

Good way to destroy an economy. A lot of spending goes on just to expense income that would ordinary be taxed. Spending which makes jobs. Rich would get even richer by hoarding and collecting rents.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Sorry that doesnt piss me off as much as the bottom people paying little to no federal income tax and sucking off the teet of the government.

At least those rich people are contributing to society.

It shouldn't. The low capital gains rate compared to income tax rate is a great way to prevent middle class people from catching up to the rich. It basically makes them oligarchs.

My Solution:

1. Tax all income including capital gains at the same rate.
2. Eliminate most personal deductions that aren't business expenses
3. Doing 1 and 2 would allow for lowering marginal rates and flattening the brackets.
4. Eliminate most deductions for corporations and lower the marginal rate for them as well.

 

[dmcowen674]

Rich would get even richer by hoarding and collecting rents.

That's what you are getting anyway.

 

[wuliheron]

I know! How about we start taxing illegal Mexicans! We can also charge them boarder crossing fees! They can't vote anyway so why not!

 

[matt0611]

Cut the federal government by 50%+
Get rid of all federal taxes. Abolish the IRS. Enact national retail consumption tax. (5% or so)
Make exceptions for vital goods (food, clothes, shelter, healthcare).
Done.

 

[EagleKeeper]

You red state fuckers take in more government money than you pay into while us blue staters subsidize you, if anything, blue states should just secede from the union. It'd be hilarious watching military contractors and military bases just close up shop and all you idiots going unemployed. If anything the red states should just be a 3rd world vacation destination for the rest of us.

Yet you feel that those that have the most, should pay proportionally more.

So, if the Blue States are so much better off; why are you complaining that they are paying more than the Red.

You should complaining that the Blue states are not voluntarily paying their proportionally fair share of more taxes.

Liberal hypocrite

 

[Londo_Jowo]

You red state fuckers take in more government money than you pay into while us blue staters subsidize you, if anything, blue states should just secede from the union. It'd be hilarious watching military contractors and military bases just close up shop and all you idiots going unemployed. If anything the red states should just be a 3rd world vacation destination for the rest of us.

I wish the blue states would secede, then you would become a third world nation without electrical power and basic necessities. The red states should impose high tariffs on any and all goods that are exported to the blue states.

Don't be surprised when many of the counties within the blue state choose to go red.

BOHICA Blue states!!!!

 

[wuliheron]

I'm assuming you no nothing of US income tax?

Hell no! I made my first million selling crack to school kids. Now I preach the gospel of low-to-no taxes and survival of the fittest!

 

[tk149]

Yet you feel that those that have the most, should pay proportionally more.

So, if the Blue States are so much better off; why are you complaining that they are paying more than the Red.

You should complaining that the Blue states are not voluntarily paying their proportionally fair share of more taxes.

Liberal hypocrite

Wow, this is as close to a rude post as I've ever seen out of you.

(I'm not saying that Jokus.txt doesn't deserve it. )

 

[child of wonder]

None of this matters anyway because this country is screwed. Any raise in taxes on anyone will result in screaming and protests. Any cutting of federal programs will result in screaming and protests. The only prosperity we seem to enjoy is the rapid creation of funny money (dot-com bubble, real estate bubble, etc.) and those periods of economic growth are followed up with recessions.