Didn't pay her taxes

[retire@40]

They should modify the system so that most people wouldn't have to file anything.
Think about it the govt receives all the data and can put it all together. They also know the tax laws a lot more than the people filing. They should send you the form filled out with a check or a bill.

The tax laws can easily be modified for that.

I just thought of something that I never heard anyone ever mention before. How about eliminating all federal income taxes and replacing it with a national property tax.

Your city or town already assesses your property value and you already pay local real estate taxes.

Why not have the federal, and state for that matter, just assess you in the same way? Everyone except the homeless (who don't pay taxes anyway) would pay.

No more tax returns, no more saving receipts, no more audits, all transparant, no more guessing at what your taxes may be, no more surprise AMT.

 

[MasterBlaster]

retire@40:

well taxing only property may or may not be as equitable as you first imagine.

Should struggling farmers pay loads of taxes

Should millionaire renters in Manhatten pay nothing ??

The idea is to tax income and have it graduated on an ability to pay scale. The problem is in the details.

Per the related idea to tax wealth rather than income the thinking is... is that wealth(real estate aside) is mobile so if you tax the wealth (capital) then you will tend to drive it away. Having capital around tends to produce jobs that are deemed to be valuable to a society. Having capital around sometimes allows for others to accumulate capital. Taxing wealth therefore may not be a desirable choice. Clearly there are exemptions to this rule such as the estate tax and property tax.

For what it is worth, Hillary Clinton (and others) has floated the concept of wealth taxation as a means to level income disparity.

 

[perinova]

Should millionaire renters in Manhatten pay nothing ??

Contrary to common belief renters are actually paying property tax too. However it is included in the rent.
Don't you think that landlord are passing on the property tax into the rent? They do! (as well as all other landlord costs).

Farmers have agg exemptions for property taxes.

I agree with you, the property tax is not a just tax and should be eliminated all together and replaced with Sales Tax (or some say a Gross Receipt Taxes is better?) and Income Tax.

 

[Texas Proud]

They should modify the system so that most people wouldn't have to file anything.
Think about it the govt receives all the data and can put it all together. They also know the tax laws a lot more than the people filing. They should send you the form filled out with a check or a bill.

The tax laws can easily be modified for that.

Interesting... this is just what the UK does... if you don't make a lot, they figure out your taxes... but (and don't quote me on this as I am not sure)... I don't think they tax capital gains and some other things we tax... so it is much easier for them to do... I think the cutoff was in the 40K pound range... someone from the UK??

 

[TromboneAl]

she'll be able to learn some LBYM methods during her jail time.

Lesbian Bitch, You're Mine.

 

[retire@40]

...Should struggling farmers pay loads of taxes

Should millionaire renters in Manhatten pay nothing ??...

Simple solution. There would be a different rate for farmland than there would be for a personal residence. The point is that it would be easy and transparent, just like the local real estate taxes are in your town. All property assessments would be made available online for everyone to view. Impossible to cheat.

Millionaire renters would not escape the property tax either since the cost of the tax would be built into their rent, just like it is now for all renters anyway.

The more I think about this, the better it sounds. I don't see any downside.

 

[perinova]

The upside is a predictable income stream from the government.
The downside is that if you loose your job, retire, become invalid you would have to sell your property very fast not to go into bankrupcy.

It is a lot easier for the govt to go into debt than for individuals so an income tax is a lot better for everyone. Including the economy, because with a property tax, in bad time you would have no money left for expenditures and this would put the economy further into recession.

Perinova. Would be economist. ER wannabe

 

[MasterBlaster]

Simple solution. There would be a different rate for farmland than there would be for a personal residence. The point is that it would be easy and transparent, just like the local real estate taxes are in your town. All property assessments would be made available online for everyone to view. Impossible to cheat.

Millionaire renters would not escape the property tax either since the cost of the tax would be built into their rent, just like it is now for all renters anyway.

The more I think about this, the better it sounds. I don't see any downside.

Well I'd go for your property tax scheme only if taxes are due on election day.

 

[retire@40]

The upside is a predictable income stream from the government.
The downside is that if you loose your job, retire, become invalid you would have to sell your property very fast not to go into bankrupcy.

It is a lot easier for the govt to go into debt than for individuals so an income tax is a lot better for everyone. Including the economy, because with a property tax, in bad time you would have no money left for expenditures and this would put the economy further into recession.

Good points, but again there are some simple stopgaps or permanent solutions for the items you mentioned.

Lose Your Job: When you lose your job, you collect unemployment benefits to help pay the taxes.

Retire: If you don't have enough money to retire, why would you retire? Again, maybe for those starting social security could get a lower property tax rates. Totally transparent for all to see, everyone gets treated the same way at retirement.

Become Invalid: Reduction in full or in part for anyone who does not have the mental and/or physical capacity to work. Again, since everyone can see what you are paying in property taxes, you friends and neighbors would not take to kindly if you were "faking" a problem to get this reduced benefit. They would help police the system.

 

[retire@40]

Well I'd go for your property tax scheme only if taxes are due on election day.

That's the beauty of my scheme system. Taxes would be payable on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of each month.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I have a friend who is considered self-employed.

Silly afterthought question since you couched it this way...is what she does for a living considered a legal activity in most states?

 

[d]

I just thought of something that I never heard anyone ever mention before. How about eliminating all federal income taxes and replacing it with a national property tax.

this is actually an idea that was promoted many years ago (perhaps 100?) ... can't recall all the detail (no, i wasn't there to witness it first hand), but there are many second-order effects which were then touted as being quite beneficial. i'd guess the higher order effects could not be correctly anticipated.

 

[skipper]

Silly afterthought question since you couched it this way...is what she does for a living considered a legal activity in most states?

Not sure if you are joking or not. But, yes, she is employed by an agency
as a travel nurse. Travel nurses usually work a 13 week contract in a hospital.
They can work in any state.

Don't know why the agency doesn't withhold taxes. I guess she didn't fill
out the paperwork.

 

[bssc]

Don't know why the agency doesn't withhold taxes. I guess she didn't fill
out the paperwork.

If she was a 1099 employee they don't have to.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Not sure if you are joking or not. But, yes, she is employed by an agency
as a travel nurse.

Nope, wasnt joking. Somewhere between being "considered self employed", not paying taxes, and thinking that wasnt a big deal, I figured perhaps her income was conceived through questionable means. Nursing doesnt fall into that category.

 

[bssc]

Nope, wasnt joking. Somewhere between being "considered self employed", not paying taxes, and thinking that wasnt a big deal, I figured perhaps her income was conceived through questionable means. Nursing doesnt fall into that category.

Are you sure that the nursing bit isn't a cover for her being a highly compensated assassin?

 

[Gillette]

Interesting... this is just what the UK does... if you don't make a lot, they figure out your taxes... but (and don't quote me on this as I am not sure)... I don't think they tax capital gains and some other things we tax... so it is much easier for them to do... I think the cutoff was in the 40K pound range... someone from the UK??

The UK taxes capital gains, but they have an annual exemption amount for cap gains of 8800 GBP (this year) so many people don't have to pay cap gains tax b/c of that.

I do agree their system seems eaiser for the wage earner. There isn't a W-4 type form. The government tells the company how much to withhold and it's almost always spot on. However, if you're self-employed, have two jobs, investment income, or due a refund you still have to self-assess (file a tax form).

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Are you sure that the nursing bit isn't a cover for her being a highly compensated assassin?

Its possible.

I also have this vague mental picture of linda lovelace in a nurses outfit

 

[jdmorton]

Oh No! I Had the Same Mental Picture as CFB!!!

Its possible.

I also have this vague mental picture of linda lovelace in a nurses outfit

 

[skipper]

Its possible.

I also have this vague mental picture of linda lovelace in a nurses outfit

I had to laugh when I read this, as she is no Linda Lovelace!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Then for gods sake man, dont post any pictures!!!

 

[cube_rat]

I had to laugh when I read this, as she is no Linda Lovelace!

For CFB's sake : Does your friend look like Kathy Bates?

 

[skipper]

For CFB's sake : Does your friend look like Kathy Bates?

Oh, misery!
(she is overweight)