Time for a flat tax

[jsarno]

This is getting ridiculous. Why is it that we are not all taxed the same rate? Why do people that work hard for a living and have no kids, get punished for doing so? I don't care if you make $5 or $500,000, you should be taxed the same percentage!
It is not the responsibility of the rich to pay for the inadaquacies of the poor. It is everyones responsibility to take responsibility for their own actions.
I suffered massive debt to get my Masters degree, and now it's finally paying off even though I still owe 50k in student loans. Yet my taxes are getting worse and worse cause I am making more and more. That is BS! Don't punish those that are trying to better themselves.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I generally agree (if for no other reason than to make taxes easier), but I don't have a problem with luxury taxes on high-ticket items.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I generally agree (if for no other reason than to make taxes easier), but I don't have a problem with luxury taxes on high-ticket items.

DO luxury taxes still exist?
I remember several years ago, you had to pay a luxury tax on any vehicle over 30k. (yes, it's been a while ago) But I thought the luxury tax was abolished?

It would certainly make taxes easier if it was a flat tax. We are all supposed to be "equal" yet we are taxed differently?

[dmek25]

hate to say it, but you should pay more if you make more. why should i be paying the same flat tax as a millionaire? if you think about it, it really doesn't make sense

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by dmek25

hate to say it, but you should pay more if you make more. why should i be paying the same flat tax as a millionaire? if you think about it, it really doesn't make sense

Why? A millionaire worked for his money (assuming he did work for it). So why should people that worked to earn more be taxed more? Everyone should get taxed the same percentage. We are all supposed to be equal!
You really have your work cut out for you to explain why a millionaire deserves a higher percentage TAKEN from them to support the poor.
ps- I am not even referring to millionaires...but people that make say 100k instead of people that make say 30k. But millionaires still count in my flat tax idea.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by dmek25

hate to say it, but you should pay more if you make more. why should i be paying the same flat tax as a millionaire? if you think about it, it really doesn't make sense

But they do pay more. As it stands right now, the richest 1% of the country pays over 35% of all income taxes.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

But they do pay more. As it stands right now, the richest 1% of the country pays over 35% of all income taxes.

This is pretty consistent with the numbers I've seen.

I know we here at the Warpath like to argue what "should" be the case on a lot of issues, but so often (as with the salary cap) we forget to ground ourselves in what is possible.

We need to tax the rich a greater % than we tax the middle class and the poor, because the nation needs that money. If we went with a flat tax that managed to net the same amount of overall revenue that our current graduated system does, the flat tax rate would represent an absolutely CRIPPLING tax hike for the poor and the middle class. Maybe that seems "fair" to you, but I don't see how that can be considered a good thing when so many middle class people are struggling to afford health insurance as it is. With college education costs rising so fast and with the recent run-up in home prices, the middle class is getting squeezed enough as it is. A flat tax would thrust many of them into poverty so the top 1% could buy more yachts.

I'm a red-blooded Republican, and I still recognize a flat tax makes no sense. The middle class does indeed need to realize that they need to work hard and pull themselves up, and not depend on the government. But the shift of money from the poor to the rich would be huge if we moved to a flat tax.

Besides, this idea would NEVER pass in congress. The likelihood of this ever happening is so remote that it almost renders this thread "retarded."

But please, let's all continue arguing based on ideals instead of reality, and continue to pretend a flat tax would be more fair in our ideal worlds.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by dmek25

hate to say it, but you should pay more if you make more. why should i be paying the same flat tax as a millionaire? if you think about it, it really doesn't make sense

Actually I think logically your argument doesn't make sense. Shouldn't everyone contribute an equal proportion of their income? Why is it fair for someone rich to pay a higher proportion? That seems like faulty logic.

All that being said I am not sure a flat tax would work for us and I am relatively ok with our progressive system as long as politicians keep an eye out for middle America. It is requiring increasingly more money to live comfortably in this country and that is driving up salaries. All of a sudden a lot of people who are considered in the higher tax bracket are the same ones who'd have been no higher than middle-middle class 40 years ago adjusted for inflation. They might have only been in the second tax bracket then. Take the AMT for example. A lot, no a TON of people are going to get hit with this in the coming few years and it will mostly be middle class Americans who all of a sudden are getting bumped into the same tax bracket Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are in. The AMT was meant for the super rich when it was made. Does that even make any sense at all?

[Beemnseven]

Wow. Is the Parking Lot getting political or what?

Actually, I don't mind.

Problem with a luxury tax is that the smart people who have made a lot of money will always find a way around it.

The government tried the same thing with luxury yachts several years ago. They put a ridiculous tax on multi-million dollar yachts and the rich simply went to foreign countries and bought them cheaper.

Result? That put thousands of people who make their living building yachts in the United States out of work.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Wow. Is the Parking Lot getting political or what?

I didn't see this as political, just an issue in this country that I think needs to be fixed.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Wow. Is the Parking Lot getting political or what?

Actually, I don't mind.

Problem with a luxury tax is that the smart people who have made a lot of money will always find a way around it.

The government tried the same thing with luxury yachts several years ago. They put a ridiculous tax on multi-million dollar yachts and the rich simply went to foreign countries and bought them cheaper.

Result? That put thousands of people who make their living building yachts in the United States out of work.

Interesting points Beems that I hadn't thought of.

As for the parking lot becoming political, I don't mind and actually like it provided people are reasonable and civil. On the whole, we've managed to keep the peace for now.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Wow. Is the Parking Lot getting political or what?

Actually, I don't mind.

Problem with a luxury tax is that the smart people who have made a lot of money will always find a way around it.

The government tried the same thing with luxury yachts several years ago. They put a ridiculous tax on multi-million dollar yachts and the rich simply went to foreign countries and bought them cheaper.

Result? That put thousands of people who make their living building yachts in the United States out of work.

It is interesting how the parking lot has evolved over the last year or so.

The discussions are interesting and civil.

[wolfeskins]

i have no problem with the way it is now. the more you make , the more you pay. this way sounds like everyone IS paying an EQUAL percentage.

joe shmoe pays 10% of 300,000
slim jim pays 10% of 33,000

they're both paying 10% (equal percentage) but joe pays more cause he makes more.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by wolfeskins

i have no problem with the way it is now. the more you make , the more you pay. this way sounds like everyone IS paying an EQUAL percentage.

joe shmoe pays 10% of 300,000
slim jim pays 10% of 33,000

they're both paying 10% (equal percentage) but joe pays more cause he makes more.

But that is not the way it is right now.
Joe Shmoe is paying 33%
and Slim Jim is only paying 10%.

Those numbers aren't exact, but that's the way it is...the more you make the more percentage wise you are paying. The less you make, the less percentage wise you are paying. You should all pay the same percentage.

[Daseal]

The easy answer: because the rich can afford it. I think it's ignorant to say the man who only makes 30K doesn't work for his money. I bet the guys making 30K work a whole hell of a lot harder than the manager sitting in his office making 60K.