taxes seem to be on the most debated things on these forums but haver never had their own thread.
so here it is.
someone get us started.
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taxes seem to be on the most debated things on these forums but haver never had their own thread.
so here it is.
someone get us started.
We should tax everyone 100% of their earnings and give it all to Dolphins! Then need another super bowl ring!!11!1
But seriously. The taxes need to be lower than they already are and the government needs to learn how to spend money and not just give it away.
Okay: What would you pay extra taxes for? Education? Defense? Health care? Justify your stances.
I'd pay extra for education, since I'm a firm believer in public education, and health care, since many people I know have been tremendously helped by the health care system, and anything we can do to make it better is worth it. I used to work in the defense industry, so I also wouldn't have minded paying taxes on that, but now that I switched industries, I don't want to pay taxes (opportunistic :p).
What else is there to pay taxes on... Welfare (bums are fascinating :p)? Social Security? Public Safety (I dislike cops :p) Um... hmm... Well, there's a start. Back to work time.
i had an idea the other day. scrapping every single tax but one. the income tax. to relate tax directly by income and nothing else. the rest comes across as a tax on the poor. especially this crap idea for road tax. which doesn't address emmisions like the old one did but is purely meant to keep poor people from moving around too much. and if nothing but income was taxed people technically would be no poorer. all people's wages would go down equally.
then i though about a curved tax system. where peple earning more are taxed higher so it gets harder and harder to earn more money. thus closing the rich poor gap slightly. then a though accured to me. the super-rich. i don't think there is any plausible reason for people to be earning millions except to say they are earning millions. why would any man need to earn overa million pounds a year? it just seems so extreme to me. and i think it would be just for the sake of vanity to earn more. so what about capping the amount you can earn?
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then i though about a curved tax system. where peple earning more are taxed higher so it gets harder and harder to earn more money. thus closing the rich poor gap slightly.
I, personally, am ashamed to even hear that.
Do you have any idea how many people that would hurt - not just the rich? What about the 5,000 minimum-wage employees of one big businessman, that he would have to lay off if the government came up with even MORE arbitrary antitrust laws to regulate his income? How about all the distributors that rely on that business for product; they would have to lay off employees and cut costs as well. Hurting the rich businessmen and the investors hurts everyone, as they support entire communities. But oh my god, some people have earned more than others - they must be stripped of it! Income is not equal because minds, because ability are not equal. In a free society, the better go to the top. The top is currently filled with corrupt, bribing businessmen precisely because the government is able to regulate them.
I am against any sort of forced income tax. I would gladly hand over a portion of my income for a basic federal government(army, police, law courts), but I am against paying for things I don't agree with. I do not agree with public education, which is so full of flaws that could be easily fixed by privatization. I am against nationalized health insurance of any sort, I'm against government-controlled social security, and against basically any sort of government-intervention into businesses.
Over a million a year?
Well the factory my dad was part owner of for a while(they wanted his familiarity with the machines(old pieces of junk they were) and building), ended up spending 600or so thousand the first year or so to just try and get it up and running. And this wasn't a big industry(think 2 or three of my houses would be as large as the factory building almost). and in fact the just sold it cause it was eating money. So if you want to invest I can easily see the need for millions a year... Think what If I would like to supply a bunch of small towns with stores... that could cost a fair amount... so should I just not service the towns?
Also I aggree with alot of what -N- said.
the businessman would only cut jobs if he valued his one over blown riches more than his business. cuuting jobs = less employees = less people to build stuff = less stuff = less money. if he is simple becomign more effeceint then he would do this anyway.
we are regulating the companies income. we are regulating the owners income. both are seperate. lets look at where i work. people pay money to come in. deducted from this are the wages, elec, gas, maintenance costs etc. and the owners pay is what is left. this end part we can tax.
it's what happens with small businesses as well and the self evaluation. if i remember for self evaluation you need to show the net profit which goes into your pocket after all other costs. then of course you have corporate tax (which i proposed abolishing)
we are not talking about stripping people of all they have earned. tax has never done that. making it harder for people to become super-rich with abolsutely no purpose for the money is hardly the worst prospect.
Antitrust:Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
Opposing or intended to regulate business monopolies, such as trusts or cartels, especially in the interest of promoting competition: antitrust legislation.
I suppose you meant "arbitrary laws to regulate his income", since antitrust laws have nothing to do with personal income.
Taxes are too high at 33% income tax in this country with earners above 50K being taxed 40% which is unfair in my opinion the high earners pay their fair share they should be punished for their success.
I'm against taxes at all. I think we should have no roads or schools and get to keep all our own money. Oh and cars should be banned too.
When I said "his," I believe I was referring to a businessman. Yes, I meant the US antitrust laws.Quote:
Originally Posted by Endless
I'm having trouble determining whether that's sarcasm or not...Quote:
Taxes are too high at 33% income tax in this country with earners above 50K being taxed 40% which is unfair in my opinion the high earners pay their fair share they should be punished for their success.
Well, you obviously value his "overblown riches" more than his business if you want to steal the former at the cost of the latter.Quote:
the businessman would only cut jobs if he valued his one over blown riches more than his business. cuuting jobs = less employees = less people to build stuff = less stuff = less money. if he is simple becomign more effeceint then he would do this anyway.
Oh, I see, the owner's shouldn't have to pay a part of the gross profit, since that would affect worker's wages, but instead tax net profit? You do realize that won't do a damn thing, right?Quote:
we are regulating the companies income. we are regulating the owners income. both are seperate. lets look at where i work. people pay money to come in. deducted from this are the wages, elec, gas, maintenance costs etc. and the owners pay is what is left. this end part we can tax.
No purpose???? You seem to think that a businessman keeps his business the exact same over his entire lifetime, gets no new machinery, no huge expansions/mergers, no new inventions, no new investments over his entire lifetime, and just lets his fortune settle in the bank. I will say this: in a free market, if a businessman did that, he wouldn't be in business very long. In a free market, outside of government regulations, businessness are constantly forced to expand, to become more efficient, to invest in new products and new inventions, to pay higher wages to get the best workers - which ends up benefitting everyone, even if it only means someone at home pays a lower gas bill, or paid less for a computer.Quote:
we are not talking about stripping people of all they have earned. tax has never done that. making it harder for people to become super-rich with abolsutely no purpose for the money is hardly the worst prospect.
Regulating business only hurts everyone. Stripping the businessmen and the investors of their money means they can't invest or expand as much, meaning none(or less) of the above happens. How that can POSSIBLY be justified to be in peoples' best interest is beyond me. Just look at the current state of the US public education...or the railroad industry which berthed the antitrust laws(the mistakes of socialist regulations being blamed on free market), the Great Depression - all caused by the government screwing around with business. Are you really that blind?
I'd like to see what "US antitrust law" regulates anyone's (businessman or business) income.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
I know little about taxes but I just want to say something. I believe compared to the US, Canada has higher taxes, yet it comes with benefits. We have public medicare, old age pension, Canada pension, unemployment insurance, welfare, equilization, etc... many of these are abused, yet they are a neccesity. Look at equilization (for those who never heard of the term, it is when the gov. holds back a certain percentage of a province's taxes, and gives it to another, needy province) Ontario, BC, and Alberta pay into, and the money goes to the rest of the provinces. 30% of the NB budget is dependant on that. If NB did not receive it it would be 10 times poorer tthan it is now.
Personally IE (unemployement inssurrance, there's another name that makes sense with the "ie" but I forget what it is) is what helps my family. My parents are both seasonal workers, and withdraw ie during the winter, without that it would be hard to live through the winter.
Public Medicare. Any necessary surgery, we do not pay for. So when you need a triple bipass, or just going in for a check-up, no cost. The negative side is that many people who have a just a common flu or cold will use go to the hospital, when there is no need.
If you sincerely ask many Canadian if they want less taxe (meaning less social programs) or like having slightly higher taxes, they will most likely be content with their current taxes, seeing the benefits given from them.
That basically all I have to say. I am happy with the taxes here, cuz really that is what makes Canada wondwerful, our social services.
The problem with america is our taxes get burned up before they get to where they are supposed to go, or the program isn't handled correctly. The USA is full of waste and corruption. :mad: Elsewise the programs would prolly work fine. We almost need an overhaul of the government.
I don't think the US has the market cornered on government waste.
I think Raist has been reading too much Ayn Rand.
I really don't have a problem with most of the taxes except the manner in which one tax is executed. This would be those who are independent contractors. FICA tax is 15.3%. Normally, half of that is paid by the employer and the other half by the employee. As an independent contractor, you're stuck paying the full 15.3%.
I would like to see at least the Social Security (6.2%/12.4%) portion of FICA to be done away with so that we can make our own decisions of how to use the money. I guarantee you that I and most others would benefit more from depositing that 6.2% to an IRA that we do from Social Security. Not to mention, by the time people that are my age reach retirment age, Social Security is projecting that we will be receiving 26% less in payments than our current payees. I don't know much about Medicare (1.45/3.9%) so I can't really comment on that part. Overall, I think social security is a crock and we should have the freedom to build our own retirement funds that will actually benefit us in our old age.
it is also untrue that government funded education and health care is poor quality. look at cuba. the best education system. the best doctors. all publicly funded by a communist government.
I'm not even going to TOUCH the Cuba comment.
In any event, I recognize taxes as a necessary evil, but I also feel they could be easily mitigated if there were some sort of auditing system in place where the government is audited by outside, private companies reasonably often so as to eliminate waste. I think that'd solve a lot of the tax problems right there.
Controlling business is asinine and damaging. A free market is successful because it is a free market, government regulations stifle business. True, certain regulations might be agreed upon as necessary (generally involving ethics and worker treatment and wages) but most can easily be done away with. Everyone likes to bemoan the rich, but they conveniently ignore the investments of great capital that were required for the rich to build their fortunes into what they are. They made the investment, they made it work, give them their damn money and stop complaining.
Although inheritance caps would be a good idea, a single heir getting the entire estate without having to work for it is a wee bit unfair.
Generally, I agree with what Raistlin said. I don't have aversion to public services in principle, but they have to actually work - the UK's current public education system is such a joke I abhor the fact I am forced to support it. If it was a good system, I'd be fine with it. But it's a joke, so I'm not.
Also, our socialist measures are wrecking our economy. I know several businesspeople who are reducing their company sizes, or even closing up shop altogether, because taxes are so high that enterprise in Britain is prohibitively expensive.
To everyone who claims people would be neglected educationally in an entirely free market; Would you support private programs to ensure education for as many as possible? Would you help out teachers in their educating of children? Would you donate resources such as textbooks? I daresay your answers are mostly yesses; I know I would. It's an irony that Libertarianism actually encourages far more sharing and co-operation than most other systems, but when people can directly observe where their donations go, it's strange to suppose you would be the only person who would support public works. The fact they are overseen by a body which formed for the specific reason of overseeing that public work would to me suggest efficiency and dedication, but hey. Whatever.
Hilary Clinton uses the money to investigate video games. What a douchebag
why was my comment on cuba having on of the world's finest education systems and the world's best doctors ignored and refused to comment upon?
Because it's wrong, really.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud No.9
look at their literacy rate. look at the doctors they send out to disaster zones. the vaccines they have created or help create. it's hardly a failed system.
Give me proof, then.
p.s. income tax sucks.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/cu.html
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/us.html
cuba's literacy rate equals that of america. it's infant mortality rate is lower. it's rate of aids lower. lower unemployment.
not doing bad considering it's got a US trade embargo. and is communist.
"illicit migration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and overland via the southwest border"
Just a quote from that url posted above. Cuba may have good doctors, and they may have plenty of little kids that can read, but here's the thing: 1.) not all doctors get the same amount of money from the government. The Cuban government, which is more of a dictatorship than a communism, will pay good money for doctors that cater to high officials within the government. This means that the public does not always see these excellent doctors. So it's not really the system that works in that case, just the greed of those in charge. 2.) the literacy rate is not a good indicator of intelligence. All the literacy rate looks at is if they can read. Not the level they can read at, or what they read. If they can read Cat in the Hat, they're literate by those standards.
Tax History lesson: The American Revolution was in part started because of a 7% income tax imposed upon them by the British Government. Today American income tax is roughly 30% depending on benefits, dependents, etc. What's the main difference? In the early 20th century Americans asked the government to create an income tax in order to help pay for social services such as transportation, development, etc. They let themselves be taxed because they benefited from it. The point I'm trying to make is this, if the tax money is put to good use, then taxes are good. When the taxes are used to pay $200 for a hammer or $100,000 just so a cruiser can go out on a Sunday instead of a Monday, then taxes are bad.