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Changing sales tax exemptions for food

phattonez said:
Currently uncooked food is exempt from sales taxes. This is because taxes on necessities at a flat rate is regressive to the poor because they pay a higher proportion of their income to necessities. However, this falls short for a number of reasons:

1. Other necessities like clothing and housing are not tax exempt.
2. Unnecessary expenditures like more exorbitant foods are also tax exempt.

Instead, we ought to tax those goods, but offset with a set amount to each person per month. This way there is effectively zero tax on necessities without giving a tax break on luxuries. It's a relatively minor change, yes, but this is a significant flaw in our tax system.
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Or just get rid of the sales tax and increase the income tax rate in higher brackets. Why do we need so many different taxes, anyway?
 
Waddy said:
Our local sales taxes everything at 9.82%. So for big purchases I cross the state line and pay 6.75%. They also exempt food. So I make a regular grocery run at about $600. No tax.
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Do you think you save money driving across the state line and back to save $18 in sales tax? How much fuel and wear-and-tear costs on your vehicle do you think that drive costs - and how much extra time does it take you?

Figuring the difference between your costs to drive there and back to the $18 you save, how much does that mean you calculation your time is worth to you?
 
joko104 said:
Do you think you save money driving across the state line and back to save $18 in sales tax? How much fuel and wear-and-tear costs on your vehicle do you think that drive costs - and how much extra time does it take you?

Figuring the difference between your costs to drive there and back to the $18 you save, how much does that mean you calculation your time is worth to you?
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9.82% of $600 isn't $18..... it's almost $60.00. Remember, NO sales tax on groceries, so I avoided that 6.75% sales tax, too. I live just across the state line. It's not much distance. So it is worth the savings. Last month I bought tires for two trucks, total about $1400.00. Kansas charges 9.82% sales tax on ALL online purchases. So I had them delivered to my youngest son's address just across the state line. NO tax on online purchases., yet. Saved almost $140.00. It's worth the trouble.
 
Tlrmln said:
Or just get rid of the sales tax and increase the income tax rate in higher brackets. Why do we need so many different taxes, anyway?
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For one thing, because there are at least three different levels of government that typically must levy their own taxes. Secondly, just one type of tax would be great if people just accepted that, behaved no differently, and didn't do anything undesirable to avoid taxes. But when you put too much weight on any one type of tax, the incentives mount for significant tax avoidance techniques.
 
Neomalthusian said:
For one thing, because there are at least three different levels of government that typically must levy their own taxes. Secondly, just one type of tax would be great if people just accepted that, behaved no differently, and didn't do anything undesirable to avoid taxes. But when you put too much weight on any one type of tax, the incentives mount for significant tax avoidance techniques.
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How does one avoid paying income taxes?
 
Tlrmln said:
How does one avoid paying income taxes?
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Work less and derive most of your income from capital gains which is taxed at a lower rate and housing where you can deduct depreciation (which owner-occupiers cannot do).
 
phattonez said:
Work less and derive most of your income from capital gains which is taxed at a lower rate and housing where you can deduct depreciation (which owner-occupiers cannot do).
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It's not necessary to have a lower capital gains rate, or to allow deduction of depreciation from rental properties (which, by the way, are often heavily taxed in the form of property taxes).

And of course, all that requires a certain degree of wealth to begin with.
 
Tlrmln said:
It's not necessary to have a lower capital gains rate, or to allow deduction of depreciation from rental properties (which, by the way, are often heavily taxed in the form of property taxes).
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Capital gains should be taxed (at least) at the same rate as wages, and landlords should get no exemptions that owner-occupiers cannot get.
 
Tlrmln said:
How does one avoid paying income taxes?
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That's easy. Just set up a charitable foundation and funnel all your otherwise taxable income through it. You deduct all of your expenses through the foundation. Then you 'donate' your time and deduct that. Buy a million dollar painting and put it on public display at your foundation headquarters and deduct the million dollars. Easy peasy. Anyone can do it.
 
Stealers Wheel said:
That's easy. Just set up a charitable foundation and funnel all your otherwise taxable income through it. You deduct all of your expenses through the foundation. Then you 'donate' your time and deduct that. Buy a million dollar painting and put it on public display at your foundation headquarters and deduct the million dollars. Easy peasy. Anyone can do it.
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Charities are such a scam. No one talks about this.
 
I sent a friend in Oregon money to buy my last cellphone and ship it to me. San Jose, CA has an effective 9.5% sales tax while Oregon has 0%. Saved almost a hundred bucks.
 
Stealers Wheel said:
That's easy. Just set up a charitable foundation and funnel all your otherwise taxable income through it. You deduct all of your expenses through the foundation. Then you 'donate' your time and deduct that. Buy a million dollar painting and put it on public display at your foundation headquarters and deduct the million dollars. Easy peasy. Anyone can do it.
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Yeah, so easy that everyone is doing it, right?
 
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