[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]It just dawned on me, with all the of talk about raising taxes lately, when does ones responsibility to pay taxes stop?[/cp_quote]
The first thing that may come to mind reading that statement might be… “Hey this guys going to talk about a tax protest!” Quite the contrary my friend, I actually paid so little taxes last year I was embarrassed. Then I stopped to think about the often quoted statistic that 50% of the people in the US don’t pay federal income taxes. Now you may think these folks are the rich but I believe the statistic cited by many was to say that those in the bottom 50% of income earners pay no taxes. Let’s not argue over that line but rather consider that many many wage earners in the US pay no federal income taxes.
Let’s consider why they don’t pay taxes:
1) They have large families and big deductions. Now don’t larger families place a lager stress on public infrastructure, education, health and the environment? Aren’t these families predominantly their choice?
2) They have big homes (beyond what they can really afford) very high mortgages and high interest rates all detectable It wasn’t so long ago that a family of five would strive for a dream house of 3 bedrooms, 1 and 1/2 baths and 1100 sq feet. Now people feel entitled to 4 bedrooms 3 1/2 baths, Den, Family room, Game room high end appliances and more. Now isn’t that their choice once again? Doesn’t that require more energy and demand on the public infrastructure? But then that is their choice isn’t it?
3) They own 2 or 3 and more vehicles and deduct the sales tax. Now don’t these vehicles place a high demand on the public infrastructure? But then that’s their choice isn’t it?
4) They buy vacation (investment) properties then lose them because they never could afford them in the first place. They use that loss as a deduction for many years. But that purchase was their choice wasn’t it?
5) They donate to charity. This for the most part has been a fraud in other words they lie. Now there are changes to the tax code to make it harder. These charities frequently have questionable objectives that not all tax payers agree with. I’m not saying to abandon you favorite charity. But then that’s you choice isn’t it.
Regardless of why you don’t pay taxes if you are working and consuming public infrastructure at what point do you lose your responsibility to contribute? Where do you cross the line and become entitled and never have responsibility?
[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]The government has become so fixated on “Taxing the Rich” and “Redistributing the Wealth” they have given a pass to half of the country on their responsibility to support the government that protects and provide for their freedom. There is a price to pay for freedom and no one should get a pass on that ever. [/cp_quote]If you are part of this society I do not care if your tax winds up being $1 then you must pay it. Every person in the US that is a wage earner must and should pay some level of federal income tax that cannot be deducted, given back or forgiven (we all know the tricks politicians play with our money to redistribute it).
Can you imagine if those 50,000,000 or so workers that earned $40,000 a year, and effectively paid no federal income tax, just paid 2.5% and received no “credits” that “redistributed the wealth”? That would be $50 billion. Now imagine the elimination of $250-$1,500 “tax Credits” that redistribute the wealth and increase debt. My rough guess is that might be another $50 billion or more. Those credits by the way are not just for those $40k a year folks either. Now we are up to $100 billion a year. To my surprise I got $250 last year because I was retired and collecting social security and ran a small business on the side. I was given the $250 just because I worked and earned something beside my SS. I took it of course. Now we haven’t even touched that other 50% of the US yet and we must but in a fair and even handed in assessing taxes to everyone. No one should escape, no one.
I even received about $10,000 from tax free Municipal bonds. Normally I would have had to pay maybe $1,500 in taxes on that. Wait you say the muni bonds enable the Municipality to do things like BUILD SPORTS STADIUMS WITH OUR MONEY. Of course they do other things but every time they do, the municipality competes with the private sector that would use that money to actually make something that would contribute to the GDP. We lose double there but hey, I paid no taxes so what should I care.
Bottom line is we all must be responsible for our fair share of the Federal budget no matter how small. With responsibility on our backs many people on the lower rungs would watch who they elected with greater care. They would hold the politicians responsible for how they spend and how much they took out of their pockets instead of how much they redistribute. In the end the country would begin to flourish, jobs would be created and the country would be safer. No my friends the poverty rate would not increase, more people would not starve, more people would not be on the street, no one would take your SS away from you. You would not be turned away from health care. We would all just become collectively more responsible.
Maybe it’s time for a flat tax. Think of how much simpler and less costly if the IRS were reduced to just collecting a flat tax instead of enforcing the tax code. Think of the good business decisions the market would force us to make if the market were driven by demand and need vs. lobbyists. Think of how many high paid lobbyists would be forced to do work that increased the GDP instead of the national debt.
Nuff Said
