- Joined
- Jul 20, 2005
- Messages
- 20,688
- Reaction score
- 7,320
- Location
- Washington, DC
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
No, loopholes are unintentional holes in the law and deductions are intentional provisions that allow people not t be taxed on certain expenses.
Fair enough. But whether they were intended or not, most of them are unnecessary and some of them (e.g. mortgage interest deduction, employer-provided health insurance exclusion) are actively harmful to the overall wellbeing of our economy. Not to mention all of these items increase the complexity of the tax code, which itself costs money.
Back in the day? You're only 20 something. Back in the day for you was 2005! :rofl
Yeah, I lived on $20,000 for a few years in the middle part of the past decade, right after college. It was doable.
It doesn't matter what you you think it should cost to live. What matters, is that if a person wants a lifestyle that costs 80 grand a year to maintain, they have the right to have that lifestyle. This is still America, afterall.
I agree...if they're earning $80,000 in post-tax income they can spend it however they like. If they're only earning $72,000 in post-tax income then they shouldn't be spending $80,000 unless they're willing to go into debt. That's not the government's fault for taxing them too highly, it's their own fault for not planning accordingly (even if you consider that tax rate too high). I'm more sympathetic to people who truly CAN'T pare back their spending any more (i.e. the poor), but if someone can't cut back from a lifestyle that requires $80K per year then it sounds like they've made some bad financial decisions.
You pay $28,000+ a year in taxes?
Not quite...I think my total federal tax burden will be about $24,000 this year, and I don't anticipate it being a problem. The other thing to keep in mind is that 28% is the MARGINAL tax rate for people earning $100K...what they pay on their last dollar of income. Most of their income is taxed at less than that.
Last edited: