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Which of the things listed do you think you should be able to deduct from your income taxes?
Church contributions are taxed? I honestly did not know that.
If that's the case, I don't think they should be taxed in the first place.
No, they aren't taxed. They're considered charitable contributions under the current tax code.
Everything should be tax deductible, unless you're a union goon.
Why? What's the purpose of letting people deduct things like mortgage interest? Paying for your mortgage doesn't replace some government program...but it DOES encourage housing bubbles. Why is home ownership something the government needs to encourage?
Well, ownership societies aren't a bad thing.
obvious Child said:Rent should be deductible though if mortgage interest payments are.
All of it. Put money back in the hands of the citizens, and try to limit the growth and scope of government.
WI Crippler said:I would even go so far as to give families a tax credit, rather than a tax deduction, for medical expenses that they pay out of pocket above their insurance premium, with a cap of say $5,000. Alot of family deductibles are probably around $5,000 or so anyway, so they would essentially get that money back, hospitals would still receive their payments and remain private enterprises, and we don't have to spend money on UHC. And with the cap at $5,000 it keeps uninsured patients from getting an insane amount of money back at tax time.
WI Crippler said:I'd rather see a tax code that gives citizens back their purchasing power, than give the government our purchasing power. Make it a rewarding system(within limits) rather than a punitive one.
Which of the things listed do you think you should be able to deduct from your income taxes?
Because when you purchase safety boots, its most likely required by OSHA that you do. I can agree that prehaps a tax write off for your business suit is a bit ridiculous. I don't know if you can do that, but you shouldn't be able to.My question is about the specific tax deductions listed. Do you really think that there need to be tax laws differentiating between buying safety shoes for a factory job and buying sneakers to wear around the house?
I like the idea of a tax credit instead of a deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses. I don't see why it needs to be capped though, as long as the expenses are legitimate.
I agree. Which is why I don't think people should be punished for choosing to rent, or choosing to work at a non-union job, or choosing to live in a state with low income taxes, or choosing to do their taxes themselves.
Because when you purchase safety boots, its most likely required by OSHA that you do. I can agree that prehaps a tax write off for your business suit is a bit ridiculous. I don't know if you can do that, but you shouldn't be able to.
WI Crippler said:Well like I said earlier, the family deductible(actually I should clarify and say out of pocket expense as these are two different things) on a policy is around $5,000-$7500 anyway. The reason for the cap, is because I think it would be too expensive regarding the uninsured, if they were to have a high cost problem. As you know, a tax credit affects the bottom line on a return. I think it would cost the government too much to pay out every penny of the uninsured medical costs in this country. People would not wory about having insurance in this case, and essentially it would become government subsidized healthcare, through tax breaks. The government paying for all healthcare would simply be too much of a burden on the economy, no matter what way you slice it. It would be a "stimulus" like amount of money every 3-5 years.
WI Crippler said:They aren't punished for any of those things, they just get incentive to do the other things. Although I think it would be dumb to move to a high tax state, just to get a tax deduction on the state taxes paid.