Other Resources The Political Joe » Paying your fair share Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply
 
 
of 2
 
 
2015-10-22 4:01 PM
in reply to: 0

User image

Pro
6838
5000100050010010010025
Tejas
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Jackemy,

No mistake on your part. I was using 11.5% as an arbitrary flat tax rate and I really suck when it comes to conveying my thoughts into print.

I was suggesting a scenario like this;

1. the government trashed the tax system we use today and replaced it with a system which everyone was taxed a flat rate. I chose 11.5% for no other reason than I had read it in a previous post.
2. In this new tax system, we have 11.5% of our earnings removed from our paycheck and that money is sent to the IRS from the employer.
3. That's it. Taxes are done in one step. No filing, fretting or milking the system to get any of it back. It is gone forever, but you don't need to worry about owing more.
4. However, I think if people saw a fixed percentage of their earnings going away for good, they might better grasp just how much it really costs them to fund our government.

Ask a friend how much they paid in taxes last year. Most of the time they'll tell you how much they got back in their 'refund' and not have a clue what they actually paid.

Edited by mdg2003 2015-10-22 4:06 PM


2015-10-23 8:48 AM
in reply to: mdg2003

User image

Champion
6993
50001000500100100100100252525
Chicago, Illinois
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Originally posted by mdg2003

4. However, I think if people saw a fixed percentage of their earnings going away for good, they might better grasp just how much it really costs them to fund our government.

Ask a friend how much they paid in taxes last year. Most of the time they'll tell you how much they got back in their 'refund' and not have a clue what they actually paid.


Well they can if they looked at there check stub. I heard that a lot about omg how much they take especially when working a minimum wage job. I do not mind paying my taxes because I drive on it everyday. I am thankful for having safe food to eat.
2015-10-23 9:15 AM
in reply to: chirunner134

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

2015-10-23 9:16 AM
in reply to: mdg2003

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by mdg2003 Jackemy, No mistake on your part. I was using 11.5% as an arbitrary flat tax rate and I really suck when it comes to conveying my thoughts into print. I was suggesting a scenario like this; 1. the government trashed the tax system we use today and replaced it with a system which everyone was taxed a flat rate. I chose 11.5% for no other reason than I had read it in a previous post. 2. In this new tax system, we have 11.5% of our earnings removed from our paycheck and that money is sent to the IRS from the employer. 3. That's it. Taxes are done in one step. No filing, fretting or milking the system to get any of it back. It is gone forever, but you don't need to worry about owing more. 4. However, I think if people saw a fixed percentage of their earnings going away for good, they might better grasp just how much it really costs them to fund our government. Ask a friend how much they paid in taxes last year. Most of the time they'll tell you how much they got back in their 'refund' and not have a clue what they actually paid.

I always like to use the example of car insurance.  Everyone knows what they pay for car insurance and everyone shops it around because it's "real money" that they have to write a check for.

When things like taxes, healthcare, etc. just come out of their check or are paid for by the employer people don't know how much it costs or even much care because they're never experiencing the emotion of sending the check out.

2015-10-23 9:20 AM
in reply to: chirunner134

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 4. However, I think if people saw a fixed percentage of their earnings going away for good, they might better grasp just how much it really costs them to fund our government. Ask a friend how much they paid in taxes last year. Most of the time they'll tell you how much they got back in their 'refund' and not have a clue what they actually paid.
Well they can if they looked at there check stub. I heard that a lot about omg how much they take especially when working a minimum wage job. I do not mind paying my taxes because I drive on it everyday. I am thankful for having safe food to eat.

We all benefit from the good things that our government provides, but my main beef is all the stupid things and waste.  If you could get all the things you care about from the government and reduce your taxes by 95% I'm sure you'd be all for it as would I.

I just saw an article last night that mentioned these two amazing uses of our tax $

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave $2,466,482 to Daniel Resnic to develop three versions of the Origami condom, including the “first of its kind” anal condom. Resnic was later accused of wasting the money on full-body plastic surgery, trips to Costa Rica, parties at the Playboy mansion, and patents for inventions such as “rounded corners.”

The NIH has also given $3,531,925 to researchers to determine why lesbians are obese and gay men are not. Results have included: gay men have a “greater desire for toned muscles” than straight men, lesbians have low “athletic self-esteem,” and young men think about their muscles.

2015-10-23 9:22 AM
in reply to: tuwood

User image

Extreme Veteran
3025
2000100025
Maryland
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

How do you calculate it?  With the house and student loan repayments, not knowing my exact yearly income.  etc etc etc.  that's why I leave a bit of a buffer



2015-10-23 9:44 AM
in reply to: dmiller5

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

How do you calculate it?  With the house and student loan repayments, not knowing my exact yearly income.  etc etc etc.  that's why I leave a bit of a buffer

It's not an exact science for everyone because sometimes we have variables such as job changes and such.

I always point people the the IRS withholding calculator because it will give you a pretty good idea of where you're going to be at the end of the year.  It will say that based on the information you provided you'll get a refund of X at the end of the year so change your W-4 withholdings to Y in order to adjust it to zero.
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator

You can even let it run for half the year and then punch in your real data halfway through and adjust from there.

Back when I was paying near zero federal tax (described above) I changed my withholdings to Married 25 on my W-4 so that next to nothing was taken out of my check.

2015-10-23 10:17 AM
in reply to: 0

User image

Member
465
1001001001002525
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Originally posted by mdg2003

Jackemy,

No mistake on your part. I was using 11.5% as an arbitrary flat tax rate and I really suck when it comes to conveying my thoughts into print.

I was suggesting a scenario like this;

1. the government trashed the tax system we use today and replaced it with a system which everyone was taxed a flat rate. I chose 11.5% for no other reason than I had read it in a previous post.
2. In this new tax system, we have 11.5% of our earnings removed from our paycheck and that money is sent to the IRS from the employer.
3. That's it. Taxes are done in one step. No filing, fretting or milking the system to get any of it back. It is gone forever, but you don't need to worry about owing more.
4. However, I think if people saw a fixed percentage of their earnings going away for good, they might better grasp just how much it really costs them to fund our government.

Ask a friend how much they paid in taxes last year. Most of the time they'll tell you how much they got back in their 'refund' and not have a clue what they actually paid.


Ah got you.

I think after my marathon tax return work of crunching all the numbers this year my effective tax rate was 12% on the federal side. Granted, as a business owner that was on all my income and not just what I took home personally. If I took my personal income taxes paid as a percentage of what I took home it was 32%.

But If I just paid 11.5% and saved myself a month of weekends and the occasional IRS "we think you owe us more letter", I would make that deal in a heartbeat.



Edited by Jackemy1 2015-10-23 10:18 AM
2015-10-23 10:21 AM
in reply to: Jackemy1

User image

Champion
6993
50001000500100100100100252525
Chicago, Illinois
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Originally posted by Jackemy1


But If I just paid 11.5% and saved myself a month of weekends and the occasional IRS "we think you owe us more letter", I would make that deal in a heartbeat.



My question would be what if they said you can do the work or pay 20% would you take that deal? Is your weekends worth the 9%.
2015-10-23 11:04 AM
in reply to: chirunner134

User image

Member
465
1001001001002525
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Originally posted by chirunner134

Originally posted by Jackemy1


But If I just paid 11.5% and saved myself a month of weekends and the occasional IRS "we think you owe us more letter", I would make that deal in a heartbeat.



My question would be what if they said you can do the work or pay 20% would you take that deal? Is your weekends worth the 9%.


20% of what?

2015-10-23 12:56 PM
in reply to: dmiller5

User image

Pro
6838
5000100050010010010025
Tejas
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

How do you calculate it?  With the house and student loan repayments, not knowing my exact yearly income.  etc etc etc.  that's why I leave a bit of a buffer




Run the calculators and see if someone in your HR department at work can help you. It might take you a few years until your financial situation stabilizes and you can get the numbers to work in your favor. But I would definitely take an active role in working the numbers. Ideally you can trim it down to where you owe the IRS a small amount at tax time. Be careful not to owe them more than $1000 or they hit you with a penalty. See how that works? They will gladly use your overpayment all year and not pay interest to you. Flip it around to where you owe them too much all year and they hit you with a penalty; which is essentially nothing more than an interest payment you make to them! It's kind of insulting to the IRS has no problem using your money for free, but they have a problem with you using their money, isn't it?

Take that extra $$ in monthly pay and dump it directly into killing those student loans!!


2015-10-23 1:25 PM
in reply to: mdg2003

User image

Extreme Veteran
3025
2000100025
Maryland
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by mdg2003
Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

How do you calculate it?  With the house and student loan repayments, not knowing my exact yearly income.  etc etc etc.  that's why I leave a bit of a buffer

Run the calculators and see if someone in your HR department at work can help you. It might take you a few years until your financial situation stabilizes and you can get the numbers to work in your favor. But I would definitely take an active role in working the numbers. Ideally you can trim it down to where you owe the IRS a small amount at tax time. Be careful not to owe them more than $1000 or they hit you with a penalty. See how that works? They will gladly use your overpayment all year and not pay interest to you. Flip it around to where you owe them too much all year and they hit you with a penalty; which is essentially nothing more than an interest payment you make to them! It's kind of insulting to the IRS has no problem using your money for free, but they have a problem with you using their money, isn't it? Take that extra $$ in monthly pay and dump it directly into killing those student loans!!

ehh, why would I pay off student loans when I can use the money to put a down payment on another property :-)

 

its free money

2015-10-23 1:42 PM
in reply to: 0

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by mdg2003
Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

How do you calculate it?  With the house and student loan repayments, not knowing my exact yearly income.  etc etc etc.  that's why I leave a bit of a buffer

Run the calculators and see if someone in your HR department at work can help you. It might take you a few years until your financial situation stabilizes and you can get the numbers to work in your favor. But I would definitely take an active role in working the numbers. Ideally you can trim it down to where you owe the IRS a small amount at tax time. Be careful not to owe them more than $1000 or they hit you with a penalty. See how that works? They will gladly use your overpayment all year and not pay interest to you. Flip it around to where you owe them too much all year and they hit you with a penalty; which is essentially nothing more than an interest payment you make to them! It's kind of insulting to the IRS has no problem using your money for free, but they have a problem with you using their money, isn't it? Take that extra $$ in monthly pay and dump it directly into killing those student loans!!

ehh, why would I pay off student loans when I can use the money to put a down payment on another property :-)

 

its free money

Nothing's ever free.  

Interest is either working for you or it's working against you.  If you have student loans of say $50k that you're paying 5% interest on (just making up numbers) it will cost you $2500 of real money every year that you don't pay it down.

if you plug $208.33/mo. ($2500/yr) into a retirement calculator at 10% interest it's worth almost $4M collars over  50 year career.  Obviously you'll pay it down eventually so the math doesn't hold all the way through, but the point is "free money" that you're keeping around for a pet is killing your retirement and will continue to as long as you keep feeding it and choose not to kill it.

**edit

Also, buying investment property on debt is a recipe for disaster (ask me how I know).  lol
It's great when things are hopping, but when you're broke and the economy turns down it's a very bad idea.  ;-)



Edited by tuwood 2015-10-23 1:43 PM
2015-10-23 9:29 PM
in reply to: tuwood

User image

Expert
2180
2000100252525
Boise, Idaho
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

TAX GUNS.  If we can save even ONE CHILD through higher taxes, then we ALL need to pay higher taxes.

 

(crickets chirping........)

 

Oops, wrong thread.  Carry ON!

 

 

 

 

 

2015-10-24 12:13 PM
in reply to: tuwood

User image

Extreme Veteran
3025
2000100025
Maryland
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by mdg2003
Originally posted by dmiller5

Originally posted by tuwood

Originally posted by chirunner134
Originally posted by mdg2003 You're right about it serving as a bit of a bonus that won't be blown during the year. Except most people that mismanage their money like that will just blow the $$ as soon as the check clears. Interest on a couple grand however, is significant. Not in the short term, but interest over time is where the magic happens.
2400 at 5% return would be $66 a year.( depositing $200 a month with monthly compounded interest). Now if you saved that $2466 a year for 40 years you get some serious change. If you only save $66 a year you would have about $2500 over 40 years. Chances are if you need the money for whatever reason every year you will not be able to save it to really get the benefit. having 2400 a yearly bonus you can not touch and forces you to save might be more useful to many people. Now makes me wonder what the median return is.

I always tell people who get a return (for overpayment) that they're just giving the government an interest free loan.  If you factor in inflation it's actually a negative return because it costs ~3% more to buy something next year.

How do you calculate it?  With the house and student loan repayments, not knowing my exact yearly income.  etc etc etc.  that's why I leave a bit of a buffer

Run the calculators and see if someone in your HR department at work can help you. It might take you a few years until your financial situation stabilizes and you can get the numbers to work in your favor. But I would definitely take an active role in working the numbers. Ideally you can trim it down to where you owe the IRS a small amount at tax time. Be careful not to owe them more than $1000 or they hit you with a penalty. See how that works? They will gladly use your overpayment all year and not pay interest to you. Flip it around to where you owe them too much all year and they hit you with a penalty; which is essentially nothing more than an interest payment you make to them! It's kind of insulting to the IRS has no problem using your money for free, but they have a problem with you using their money, isn't it? Take that extra $$ in monthly pay and dump it directly into killing those student loans!!

ehh, why would I pay off student loans when I can use the money to put a down payment on another property :-)

 

its free money

Nothing's ever free.  

Interest is either working for you or it's working against you.  If you have student loans of say $50k that you're paying 5% interest on (just making up numbers) it will cost you $2500 of real money every year that you don't pay it down.

if you plug $208.33/mo. ($2500/yr) into a retirement calculator at 10% interest it's worth almost $4M collars over  50 year career.  Obviously you'll pay it down eventually so the math doesn't hold all the way through, but the point is "free money" that you're keeping around for a pet is killing your retirement and will continue to as long as you keep feeding it and choose not to kill it.

**edit

Also, buying investment property on debt is a recipe for disaster (ask me how I know).  lol
It's great when things are hopping, but when you're broke and the economy turns down it's a very bad idea.  ;-)

well i wouldnt be buying property on debt...i'd just be not paying loans down faster than required.

 

anyhow.  question for all you old "wise" people .   I may be getting a significant bonus this year because i figured out a way to bring a large sum of money in (yay).  How would you handle it.  Just picking some numbers here:

lets say my bonus is 20k after taxes (for simplicity).  I have 15k in student loans, and i need to put about 5k into my current house to make it what I would consider rentable.  I have a couple of idea on what I might do.

#1:  pay off the loans, put the money into the house, continue on with life.

#2: Keep the money, maybe put it in a CD or something that can get a bit of interest until I move and can use it for a down payment.

#3: Pay off the loans, open a home equity line of credit on my house (without withdrawing anything yet so i'm not paying interest) so that if I need it for something or for a down payment later I can leverage the existing property.  The interest would likely be lower on this than the student loans

Thoughts?

2015-10-24 1:00 PM
in reply to: 0

User image

Pro
6838
5000100050010010010025
Tejas
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
I'd go with #1. Sort of. I'd pay off student loans and credit cards if you have them. The remainder of that 5K needs to remain liquid, as a rainy day fund or built up to make a substantial cash down payment on your next property.

Whatever you do, DON'T take out the home equity loan on your existing home to buy another home. I see your plan and understand how it works. But, you need to factor in risk. Do you have a plan and money stocked away should a huge repair pop up? You can build a small empire of rentals that are all leveraged against each other and it all might succeed for a while. But you won't be able to maintain all the properties by borrowing money in the long run. All it takes is a couple of the houses to remain vacant for a few months and a couple large repair bills to hose your entire operation.

If you put the additional 5K into the house to make it rentable, how much will you clear per month? You'll need to have a positive cash ( more than 300 on a 1100/month rental ) flow from the rental. If you rent it and break even, what have you gained? Sure, someone else is paying down the mortgage, but it will take a big market swing where you sell for a substantial profit for the risk to be worth taking IMO.

Edited by mdg2003 2015-10-24 1:02 PM


2015-10-26 9:51 AM
in reply to: mdg2003

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by mdg2003 I'd go with #1. Sort of. I'd pay off student loans and credit cards if you have them. The remainder of that 5K needs to remain liquid, as a rainy day fund or built up to make a substantial cash down payment on your next property. Whatever you do, DON'T take out the home equity loan on your existing home to buy another home. I see your plan and understand how it works. But, you need to factor in risk. Do you have a plan and money stocked away should a huge repair pop up? You can build a small empire of rentals that are all leveraged against each other and it all might succeed for a while. But you won't be able to maintain all the properties by borrowing money in the long run. All it takes is a couple of the houses to remain vacant for a few months and a couple large repair bills to hose your entire operation. If you put the additional 5K into the house to make it rentable, how much will you clear per month? You'll need to have a positive cash ( more than 300 on a 1100/month rental ) flow from the rental. If you rent it and break even, what have you gained? Sure, someone else is paying down the mortgage, but it will take a big market swing where you sell for a substantial profit for the risk to be worth taking IMO.

+1 on this.  I can even throw in some first hand experience because I bought three apartment buildings on debt when I was 25.  I was going to make a killing and become a real estate tycoon you know.  lol
Well fast forward a couple of years with high vacancy and crap tenants that damaged the properties.  They were a gold mine on paper, but in reality they drove me over $250k in debt trying to keep them afloat.  Ultimately I had to file bankruptcy in 2000 because it was the only way out.  I will never ever ever ever ever buy Realestate again unless I pay cash for it up front and have enough cash reserves to withstand 12 months of vacancy.

The common lie in Realestate investment is that you get somebody else to make your payment for you and make money on the growth.  However, the growth side of the equation doesn't seem to be changing very much unless you're in a volatile market.  I live in Omaha and we have an incredible housing market, but my $350k house I built in 2003 is now worth a whopping $362k.  If I were to sell it and pay the realtor fees I'll be lucky to get $345k in hand after a sale.  Obviously every market isn't like this, but most of the ones I've seen are.  So I would plan on the only return you're going to get being from your monthly net profit and then any potential growth would just be gravy.

My advice is to pay off any debt that you have including your current home.  Then, put up to 15% of your income into retirement and then save for investment properties with cash.  

2015-11-02 10:57 PM
in reply to: Jackemy1

User image

Extreme Veteran
1190
1000100252525
Silicon Valley
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
Actually the employer portion is 7.65%. And the notion that a $50k salary only costs an employer $56k is also way off. Employers would be dancing in the street if that was the real number. I work for a mid-size company. Employ taxes are just the beginning. Workers comp insurance + MANDATED Healthcare (which we have always paid for but since obamacare our rates have continued to go up while coverage is worse), MANDATED sick pay +++. A $50k wage costs us closer to $65k.

But what's worse is places like the city of San Jose. Until just a few years ago, with all the guaranteed pensions etc, thier benefit load was 100%. So a $50k wage cost them $100k. Now it' closer to $75K. But I digress.

Our tax code has nothing to do with raising money. There are far simpler ways to do that. Our tax code is all about influencing behavior (mortgage deductions) and favoring select groups (loopholes). I would bet that if you went to a flat tax and put to a vote all deductions you would end up with total deductions counted in single digits. Mortgage deduction, state tax deduction, charitable contributions, retirement contributions, dependents would be the obvious ones. Not sure I could get to 10.

Our tax system is completely screwed up. 46% of small businesses spent over $5000 to have federal taxes prepared in addition to spending between 40-120 hours preparing documents. A study done in 2005 done by the Tax Foundation found this: Its researchers concluded that the costs of compliance for individuals was 2.8 billion hours, or $110 billion; the cost for businesses was 3.1 billion hours or $148 billion; and the cost for nonprofits was 141 million hours or $6.8 billion. In all, that works out to upwards of 6 billion hours and $265 billion.

Those were the costs a decade ago. That same report projected the 2015 costs to be $483 billion and that does not include the payment of the taxes!

I've got to go to bed before I get any more depressed.
2015-11-21 3:14 PM
in reply to: mrbbrad

User image

Veteran
2297
2000100100252525
Great White North
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share
The problem with the flat tax is at the bottom end there are fixed minimum costs for the essentials of life. I have a child that has Cerebral Palsy. I get a significant tax credit as a result.
2015-11-21 5:25 PM
in reply to: simpsonbo

User image

Pro
9391
500020002000100100100252525
Omaha, NE
Subject: RE: Paying your fair share

Originally posted by simpsonbo The problem with the flat tax is at the bottom end there are fixed minimum costs for the essentials of life. I have a child that has Cerebral Palsy. I get a significant tax credit as a result.

I haven't looked at all off them, but most flat income tax plans exempt low income families and flat consumption tax plans exempt necessity items (food/utilities/housing).  So, I see the argument used against the flat tax quite a bit, but it's really not valid based on the plans that have been offered.

New Thread
Other Resources The Political Joe » Paying your fair share Rss Feed  
 
 
of 2
 
 
RELATED POSTS

Pay as You Earn

Started by tuwood
Views: 1504 Posts: 12

2014-06-12 9:34 AM NXS

Creative job pay under obamacare

Started by Stuartap
Views: 1141 Posts: 4

2013-12-30 2:56 PM chayes

Back pay bill

Started by Left Brain
Views: 1622 Posts: 8

2013-10-07 8:50 AM Left Brain

ACA could effectively give you a weeks paid vacation!

Started by uclamatt2007
Views: 1039 Posts: 3

2013-10-02 7:52 AM Sous

Medical Groups Oppose Gun-Law Change To Share Mental Health Records

Started by DanielG
Views: 1993 Posts: 11

2013-06-19 2:04 PM powerman
RELATED ARTICLES
date : January 29, 2006
author : Ontherun
comments : 0
We triathletes are a lucky lot. We have the time and the resources to enjoy a sport that is time consuming and can be very expensive. I take this opportunity to reflect on my good fortune.