The tax poll

[Vic]

Originally posted by: smack Down
Umm actual costs would not raise but nice straw man it goes nicely with implying that a corporation that is making a profit and there for paying taxes is losing money. What would the corporate tax rate have to be so that a corporation that is currently making money is now losing money. I will give you a hint it is higher then 99%.

Hey, that's okay. I understand your pro-big business agenda now.

 

[Stretchman]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Social Security Tax?

Agreed. Ditch it hard and fast.

 

[Ferocious]

Originally posted by: Boxxcar
The most desireable and fairest is probably income tax. I only say this because I cannot imagine any other tax system that would generate enough funds for our state/nation govts.

My least and most hated tax is property tax. Texas for instance doesn't have a state income tax and they rely solely on property tax, which is through the roof - no pun intended. Mine is nearly $6000 a yr and I'm disgusted that the schools still suck. TEXAS NEEDS INCOME TAX! Not that that alone would fix the school situation, but at least the state would generate more funds and more funds would find their way to the schools. On the flip side, I don't think Texas will never go to income tax because there's just too damn many corrupt politicians in the state govt.

Sales tax needs work as well. A previous post mentioned having merchants automatically add the appropriate sales tax to the price of the goods so that way you know up front what an item costs before you get to the register. This is the way sales tax (VAT) works in Europe and should be implemented here.

My biggest gripe about sales tax is taxing the purchase of used cars. WTF! The individual car should only be taxed once and that is when it is new. I hate the fact that all (?) states collect sales tax on used cars even though they may have changed hands 2, 3, 4 or more times! I'd be happy to pay an extra five bucks on my yearly registration renewal than have to pay sales tax on the used car!

Texas will never need a state tax so long as they continue to export massive amounts of oil/gas which gets them major severance taxes from the rest of the country. Same situation with Alaska. Actually all Alaskans get checks annually thanks to gas consumers across the whole country.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by: Train
Unfortunately the best way in the REAL WORLD is to tax everything. Look at countries that have tried to push all thier taxes into one form, for the sake of simplification or fairness.

High Income tax: people report less income, more work is "off the books"

High Sales Tax: more products move to the black market.

High Property Tax: less people own homes.

In each case, the govt is hurt more than it benifits. Spreading a minimal amount of taxes across many forms is the best way to keep everything legit.

I agree. Since no one kind of tax is fair to everyone, it's better to have several different kinds at lower rates instead of one kind at a higher rate.

And I would specifically mention the estate tax as one that should be kept. Make the threshold high enough that it doesn't affect small business and farmers too much, say 5 million.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: Ferocious

Originally posted by: Boxxcar
The most desireable and fairest is probably income tax. I only say this because I cannot imagine any other tax system that would generate enough funds for our state/nation govts.

My least and most hated tax is property tax. Texas for instance doesn't have a state income tax and they rely solely on property tax, which is through the roof - no pun intended. Mine is nearly $6000 a yr and I'm disgusted that the schools still suck. TEXAS NEEDS INCOME TAX! Not that that alone would fix the school situation, but at least the state would generate more funds and more funds would find their way to the schools. On the flip side, I don't think Texas will never go to income tax because there's just too damn many corrupt politicians in the state govt.

Sales tax needs work as well. A previous post mentioned having merchants automatically add the appropriate sales tax to the price of the goods so that way you know up front what an item costs before you get to the register. This is the way sales tax (VAT) works in Europe and should be implemented here.

My biggest gripe about sales tax is taxing the purchase of used cars. WTF! The individual car should only be taxed once and that is when it is new. I hate the fact that all (?) states collect sales tax on used cars even though they may have changed hands 2, 3, 4 or more times! I'd be happy to pay an extra five bucks on my yearly registration renewal than have to pay sales tax on the used car!

Texas will never need a state tax so long as they continue to export massive amounts of oil/gas which gets them major severance taxes from the rest of the country. Same situation with Alaska. Actually all Alaskans get checks annually thanks to gas consumers across the whole country.

You are overstating Texas oil/gas industry. While oil and gas is part of the economy, we have a very diverse economy and are not reliant on it.

It is unlikely that Texas will ever have an income tax as that would require an amendment to out constitution and it would have be passed by the voters. It aint gonna happen any time in the near future.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
Get rid of all sales taxes. Raise/lower income taxes to the following:

0-$25,000 (of total income) -- 0%
$25,001-$50,000 -- 20%
$50,001-$100,000 -- 35%
$100,001-$1,000,000 -- 50%
$1,000,001-$100,000,000 -- 75%
$100,000,001+ -- 90%

Corporations to be taxed as individuals. All earned money is taxed (regardless if comes from stocks, bonds, etc.) One tax exception: Personal property can be sold without taxation if it is owned for at least one year (three years for land and/or houses).

There's no way this would work...

Income / Take Home
$25000 / $25000
$26000 / $20800 - instant pay cut!
$31250 / $25000 - finally back up to the level where you were when you only made $25K per year
$50000 / $40000
$51000 / $33150 - another huge pay cut!
$61538 / $40000 - finally back up to the level where you were when you made $50K
$100000 / $66667
$101000 / $50000 - another huge pay cut! Now you're making the same as you did when you were making $77K! Why bother advancing? And at this point, you're only making twice as much as you made at your fast-food manager $25000/yr job.

No thanks.

 

[dyn2nvu]

No taxes at all...

 

[piasabird]

Flat Tax Based on income

 

[HombrePequeno]

Originally posted by: TreyRandom

Originally posted by: ScottyB
Get rid of all sales taxes. Raise/lower income taxes to the following:

0-$25,000 (of total income) -- 0%
$25,001-$50,000 -- 20%
$50,001-$100,000 -- 35%
$100,001-$1,000,000 -- 50%
$1,000,001-$100,000,000 -- 75%
$100,000,001+ -- 90%

Corporations to be taxed as individuals. All earned money is taxed (regardless if comes from stocks, bonds, etc.) One tax exception: Personal property can be sold without taxation if it is owned for at least one year (three years for land and/or houses).

There's no way this would work...

Income / Take Home
$25000 / $25000
$26000 / $20800 - instant pay cut!
$31250 / $25000 - finally back up to the level where you were when you only made $25K per year
$50000 / $40000
$51000 / $33150 - another huge pay cut!
$61538 / $40000 - finally back up to the level where you were when you made $50K
$100000 / $66667
$101000 / $50000 - another huge pay cut! Now you're making the same as you did when you were making $77K! Why bother advancing? And at this point, you're only making twice as much as you made at your fast-food manager $25000/yr job.

No thanks.

I think he means anything you make over 25k is taxed at 20% until 50k. Anything you make over money you make over 50k until 100k is taxed at 35%.

So somebody making $25,001 would only pay 20% on the $1.

That tax scheme would pretty much kill our economy though.

 

[marincounty]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Forsythe
That income taxes inhibit growth is the most stupid thing ever.

Heh. That you proudly display soundly disputed statistics in your sig is the "most stupid thing ever."

And it's not income taxes per se that inhibit growth, but progressive income tax rates that inhibit growth. This has been economically and factually proven. Taxpayers always move in the direction that allows them to acheive what they want while paying as little in taxes as possible. Always. It has been demonstrated that people will even revert back to the barter system should the tax rates get too high.

Reality > ideology

What about Clinton's Defict Reduction Act which cut taxes on 15 million low-income families, increased taxes on 1.2% of the wealthiest taxpayers, which then led to the greatest peacetime expansion in history.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: marincounty

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Forsythe
That income taxes inhibit growth is the most stupid thing ever.

Heh. That you proudly display soundly disputed statistics in your sig is the "most stupid thing ever."

And it's not income taxes per se that inhibit growth, but progressive income tax rates that inhibit growth. This has been economically and factually proven. Taxpayers always move in the direction that allows them to acheive what they want while paying as little in taxes as possible. Always. It has been demonstrated that people will even revert back to the barter system should the tax rates get too high.

Reality > ideology

What about Clinton's Defict Reduction Act which cut taxes on 15 million low-income families, increased taxes on 1.2% of the wealthiest taxpayers, which then led to the greatest peacetime expansion in history.

You give credit where credit is not due. The expansion of the 90s occurred after a 2 decade-long period of sky-high interest rates, tight monetary policy, and low asset values. As interest rates dropped and monetary policy loosened, asset values surged, leading to the boom. As we saw though, the boom became speculative and unsustainable, which was not unusual as speculation caused asset values to skyrocket well above any justifiable reason or even common sense (your house is next, for the same reason). Should we lay that at the feet of Clinton's economic policies as well? Or are you going to be like most of the idiots here and blame Bush even though the end of the boom came well before his election? Clearly, the only possible solution is that the President (any President) is not the mighty God of the economy that people like to think he is.