The Prof
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income taxes is not the only way people pay taxes
they isn't?
LOL!
income taxes is not the only way people pay taxes
Right and itemized deductions = expenses.
You know how many middle income people you would hurt without itemized deductions?
Is that why the self employed have to pay the self employment tax and don't qualify for tax credits like people, working elsewhere?
No, I am referring to the deductions that cover specific KINDS of expenses. For example, if the government decided (for who-knows-what reason) that it was in society's best interests for you to buy your employees donuts every Friday, so they made a special provision in the tax code that allowed you to deduct the cost of donuts for your employees (beyond treating it as a normal cost of doing business)...THAT is the type of deduction that I'm referring to. If we're just talking about taking your revenues and subtracting your expenses, that's perfectly fine with me.
Granted, it's a little bit messier for businesses than for employees, because there is always a gray area between what is a legitimate cost of business, and what is a personal expense (i.e. attending a conference that happened to be located in a Caribbean resort). So the IRS has to have *some* guidelines for those types of issues. But generally they should treat sole proprietors no differently than they treat employees, when it comes to personal deductions.
You just said you wanted to tax everyone X% on their net income, period. Make up your mind.
To answer your question: not many. Overall, the deductions in our tax code are regressive. There are some SPECIFIC deductions that are progressive, but drastically simplifying the tax code would be a net positive for the middle-class...many of whom just take the standard deduction anyway.
The self-employment tax compensates for the fact that they don't pay payroll taxes on their own income. It is exactly the same percentage as the payroll taxes would be. As for employee tax credits, I'm not sure which ones you're specifically referring to...but generally speaking, they are part of the problem and should be eliminated too. Except for the EITC, which is one of the best anti-poverty programs we have IMO.
You know if the tax code wasn't so ****ed up, we wouldn't need gazillions of loopholes and deductions. You'd be able to buy a house without the interest deduction, which is really corporate welfare for the housing industry.
That's the problem, you guys are like fleas on a dog arguing over the color of the fur, when what we really need is a new dog.
almost everyone making under 125k a year which is the lionshare of the american people dont take itemized deductions they do short form
Your quote was about taxes, and as has been pointed out to you a few times, income taxes is not the only way people pay taxes. So, not paying one tax doesn't mean all that much. :coffeepap
almost everyone making under 125k a year which is the lionshare of the american people dont take itemized deductions they do short form
You know if the tax code wasn't so ****ed up, we wouldn't need gazillions of loopholes and deductions. You'd be able to buy a house without the interest deduction, which is really corporate welfare for the housing industry. That's the problem, you guys are like fleas on a dog arguing over the color of the fur, when what we really need is a new dog.
I doubt very seriosuly that you are correct on that one. Anyone making 50 g's+, that does the the short form is a ****ing idiot and since ****ing idiots don't make that kind of money, or more, I doubt that they do the short form.
There's no way around deductions. That's just a fact of life.
Hell, read it and you can see.