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January 17, 2008 at 10:34 AM #137525January 17, 2008 at 10:50 AM #137245surveyorParticipant
pretax deductions, maximizing capital gains treatment, home tax and mortgage deductions?
Isn’t that a lot of tax advantages already? Most people don’t even do itemized deductions on their taxes. They just file a 1040EZ and that’s it.
But even within the pretax deductions, there are quite a few deductions available – daycare and healthcare spending accounts, 401k deductions, even transportation deductions like bus and trolley fares (some companies do have these reimbursements).
If you have a side business (not for wage slaves, obviously), you can access the home office deduction (available whether or not you own your home), and the associated deductions for utilities, property taxes, office expenses, and (big one) home office depreciation.
There are also the college savings accounts, the Roth IRA’s, the Regular IRA’s.
But back to our original topic:
Alarmclock: I agree that learning more about the tax code as it stands now is a great idea. I did say: “there is no political will to make such a change” — this is code for “Let’s everyone put on your imagination hats”. I’m just playing a game of “SimUS” (like SimCity)…
Learn more about the tax system first and maybe you’ll see how badly your current argument is. As you can see above, there are many tax avoidance methods and they are available to everyone. If you look at the tax code, you will find that wage slaves are the most heavily taxed (their income is relatively easy to track). The tax code encourages a certain amount of risk taking and entrepeneurship by allowing you access to more tax benefits through small businesses and investments.
For myself, I would like to change the tax code as well, but your method thoroughly destroys what made the U.S. of A. great – entrepeneurship, rewarding of risk taking, and personal success through work ethic, ability, and ambition.
January 17, 2008 at 10:50 AM #137446surveyorParticipantpretax deductions, maximizing capital gains treatment, home tax and mortgage deductions?
Isn’t that a lot of tax advantages already? Most people don’t even do itemized deductions on their taxes. They just file a 1040EZ and that’s it.
But even within the pretax deductions, there are quite a few deductions available – daycare and healthcare spending accounts, 401k deductions, even transportation deductions like bus and trolley fares (some companies do have these reimbursements).
If you have a side business (not for wage slaves, obviously), you can access the home office deduction (available whether or not you own your home), and the associated deductions for utilities, property taxes, office expenses, and (big one) home office depreciation.
There are also the college savings accounts, the Roth IRA’s, the Regular IRA’s.
But back to our original topic:
Alarmclock: I agree that learning more about the tax code as it stands now is a great idea. I did say: “there is no political will to make such a change” — this is code for “Let’s everyone put on your imagination hats”. I’m just playing a game of “SimUS” (like SimCity)…
Learn more about the tax system first and maybe you’ll see how badly your current argument is. As you can see above, there are many tax avoidance methods and they are available to everyone. If you look at the tax code, you will find that wage slaves are the most heavily taxed (their income is relatively easy to track). The tax code encourages a certain amount of risk taking and entrepeneurship by allowing you access to more tax benefits through small businesses and investments.
For myself, I would like to change the tax code as well, but your method thoroughly destroys what made the U.S. of A. great – entrepeneurship, rewarding of risk taking, and personal success through work ethic, ability, and ambition.
January 17, 2008 at 10:50 AM #137478surveyorParticipantpretax deductions, maximizing capital gains treatment, home tax and mortgage deductions?
Isn’t that a lot of tax advantages already? Most people don’t even do itemized deductions on their taxes. They just file a 1040EZ and that’s it.
But even within the pretax deductions, there are quite a few deductions available – daycare and healthcare spending accounts, 401k deductions, even transportation deductions like bus and trolley fares (some companies do have these reimbursements).
If you have a side business (not for wage slaves, obviously), you can access the home office deduction (available whether or not you own your home), and the associated deductions for utilities, property taxes, office expenses, and (big one) home office depreciation.
There are also the college savings accounts, the Roth IRA’s, the Regular IRA’s.
But back to our original topic:
Alarmclock: I agree that learning more about the tax code as it stands now is a great idea. I did say: “there is no political will to make such a change” — this is code for “Let’s everyone put on your imagination hats”. I’m just playing a game of “SimUS” (like SimCity)…
Learn more about the tax system first and maybe you’ll see how badly your current argument is. As you can see above, there are many tax avoidance methods and they are available to everyone. If you look at the tax code, you will find that wage slaves are the most heavily taxed (their income is relatively easy to track). The tax code encourages a certain amount of risk taking and entrepeneurship by allowing you access to more tax benefits through small businesses and investments.
For myself, I would like to change the tax code as well, but your method thoroughly destroys what made the U.S. of A. great – entrepeneurship, rewarding of risk taking, and personal success through work ethic, ability, and ambition.
January 17, 2008 at 10:50 AM #137503surveyorParticipantpretax deductions, maximizing capital gains treatment, home tax and mortgage deductions?
Isn’t that a lot of tax advantages already? Most people don’t even do itemized deductions on their taxes. They just file a 1040EZ and that’s it.
But even within the pretax deductions, there are quite a few deductions available – daycare and healthcare spending accounts, 401k deductions, even transportation deductions like bus and trolley fares (some companies do have these reimbursements).
If you have a side business (not for wage slaves, obviously), you can access the home office deduction (available whether or not you own your home), and the associated deductions for utilities, property taxes, office expenses, and (big one) home office depreciation.
There are also the college savings accounts, the Roth IRA’s, the Regular IRA’s.
But back to our original topic:
Alarmclock: I agree that learning more about the tax code as it stands now is a great idea. I did say: “there is no political will to make such a change” — this is code for “Let’s everyone put on your imagination hats”. I’m just playing a game of “SimUS” (like SimCity)…
Learn more about the tax system first and maybe you’ll see how badly your current argument is. As you can see above, there are many tax avoidance methods and they are available to everyone. If you look at the tax code, you will find that wage slaves are the most heavily taxed (their income is relatively easy to track). The tax code encourages a certain amount of risk taking and entrepeneurship by allowing you access to more tax benefits through small businesses and investments.
For myself, I would like to change the tax code as well, but your method thoroughly destroys what made the U.S. of A. great – entrepeneurship, rewarding of risk taking, and personal success through work ethic, ability, and ambition.
January 17, 2008 at 10:50 AM #137545surveyorParticipantpretax deductions, maximizing capital gains treatment, home tax and mortgage deductions?
Isn’t that a lot of tax advantages already? Most people don’t even do itemized deductions on their taxes. They just file a 1040EZ and that’s it.
But even within the pretax deductions, there are quite a few deductions available – daycare and healthcare spending accounts, 401k deductions, even transportation deductions like bus and trolley fares (some companies do have these reimbursements).
If you have a side business (not for wage slaves, obviously), you can access the home office deduction (available whether or not you own your home), and the associated deductions for utilities, property taxes, office expenses, and (big one) home office depreciation.
There are also the college savings accounts, the Roth IRA’s, the Regular IRA’s.
But back to our original topic:
Alarmclock: I agree that learning more about the tax code as it stands now is a great idea. I did say: “there is no political will to make such a change” — this is code for “Let’s everyone put on your imagination hats”. I’m just playing a game of “SimUS” (like SimCity)…
Learn more about the tax system first and maybe you’ll see how badly your current argument is. As you can see above, there are many tax avoidance methods and they are available to everyone. If you look at the tax code, you will find that wage slaves are the most heavily taxed (their income is relatively easy to track). The tax code encourages a certain amount of risk taking and entrepeneurship by allowing you access to more tax benefits through small businesses and investments.
For myself, I would like to change the tax code as well, but your method thoroughly destroys what made the U.S. of A. great – entrepeneurship, rewarding of risk taking, and personal success through work ethic, ability, and ambition.
January 17, 2008 at 11:11 AM #137250robsonParticipantI couldn’t agree more with xbox’s comments. The point of taxes is to presumably improve society- economically, socially, etc by pooling the citizens’ resources and using it to provide things they can’t purchase or provide individually (like freeways, an army, an organized judicial system). Taxing income probably slightly discourages the incentive to earn. Taxing wealth discourages the incentive to save. Both of these behaviors are good for society as a whole, so why discourage them? Utility taxes disincentive actions that hurt society, like smoking, drinking, polluting.
The main distinction I would make to disqualify your air example is that utility taxes target behavior that is freely chosen by the individual. If you choose to pollute extra in order to increase revenue in a production process, you damage society and should have to pay for it. It is a choice with consequences you should pay for. Breathing is not.January 17, 2008 at 11:11 AM #137452robsonParticipantI couldn’t agree more with xbox’s comments. The point of taxes is to presumably improve society- economically, socially, etc by pooling the citizens’ resources and using it to provide things they can’t purchase or provide individually (like freeways, an army, an organized judicial system). Taxing income probably slightly discourages the incentive to earn. Taxing wealth discourages the incentive to save. Both of these behaviors are good for society as a whole, so why discourage them? Utility taxes disincentive actions that hurt society, like smoking, drinking, polluting.
The main distinction I would make to disqualify your air example is that utility taxes target behavior that is freely chosen by the individual. If you choose to pollute extra in order to increase revenue in a production process, you damage society and should have to pay for it. It is a choice with consequences you should pay for. Breathing is not.January 17, 2008 at 11:11 AM #137483robsonParticipantI couldn’t agree more with xbox’s comments. The point of taxes is to presumably improve society- economically, socially, etc by pooling the citizens’ resources and using it to provide things they can’t purchase or provide individually (like freeways, an army, an organized judicial system). Taxing income probably slightly discourages the incentive to earn. Taxing wealth discourages the incentive to save. Both of these behaviors are good for society as a whole, so why discourage them? Utility taxes disincentive actions that hurt society, like smoking, drinking, polluting.
The main distinction I would make to disqualify your air example is that utility taxes target behavior that is freely chosen by the individual. If you choose to pollute extra in order to increase revenue in a production process, you damage society and should have to pay for it. It is a choice with consequences you should pay for. Breathing is not.January 17, 2008 at 11:11 AM #137508robsonParticipantI couldn’t agree more with xbox’s comments. The point of taxes is to presumably improve society- economically, socially, etc by pooling the citizens’ resources and using it to provide things they can’t purchase or provide individually (like freeways, an army, an organized judicial system). Taxing income probably slightly discourages the incentive to earn. Taxing wealth discourages the incentive to save. Both of these behaviors are good for society as a whole, so why discourage them? Utility taxes disincentive actions that hurt society, like smoking, drinking, polluting.
The main distinction I would make to disqualify your air example is that utility taxes target behavior that is freely chosen by the individual. If you choose to pollute extra in order to increase revenue in a production process, you damage society and should have to pay for it. It is a choice with consequences you should pay for. Breathing is not.January 17, 2008 at 11:11 AM #137550robsonParticipantI couldn’t agree more with xbox’s comments. The point of taxes is to presumably improve society- economically, socially, etc by pooling the citizens’ resources and using it to provide things they can’t purchase or provide individually (like freeways, an army, an organized judicial system). Taxing income probably slightly discourages the incentive to earn. Taxing wealth discourages the incentive to save. Both of these behaviors are good for society as a whole, so why discourage them? Utility taxes disincentive actions that hurt society, like smoking, drinking, polluting.
The main distinction I would make to disqualify your air example is that utility taxes target behavior that is freely chosen by the individual. If you choose to pollute extra in order to increase revenue in a production process, you damage society and should have to pay for it. It is a choice with consequences you should pay for. Breathing is not.January 17, 2008 at 11:34 AM #137265Ash HousewaresParticipantthree words: Swiss bank account
January 17, 2008 at 11:34 AM #137467Ash HousewaresParticipantthree words: Swiss bank account
January 17, 2008 at 11:34 AM #137498Ash HousewaresParticipantthree words: Swiss bank account
January 17, 2008 at 11:34 AM #137524Ash HousewaresParticipantthree words: Swiss bank account
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