patrick.net

It's easy to get rid of complicated tax plans and forms and most of the IRS.

1. Eliminate all deductions.
2. No tax on income less than twice the poverty line.
3. Use one formula for calculating the graduated tax.

Bamm. No more turbo tax or tax forms. No need for tax accountants. No room to cheat on taxes. No complications causing mistakes.

Hell, tax payments and calculations could be performed in real time over the Internet using a web service that employers or their payroll companies can call. It can be all automated away.

tr6 says

Under the bill, Americans with simple tax obligations would have the option not to complete a tax return at all, but to instead receive a pre-prepared return from the IRS with their liability or refund already calculated for them.

Hault! You have a refund coming!

Tenpoundbass says

Hault! You have a refund coming!

It has nothing to do with a refund. It has everything to do with wasting time and paying TurboTax for the service that IRS can already perform.

I am annoyed by all the bugs in the software. There has not been a single year where I did not have to go through forms view to fix errors.

I checked the boxes several times in the hounding Turbotax that I did NOT WANT their value added services. They charged for them, anyway. Too much trouble to try to undo it, but that was ANNOYING. They asked at several intervals, and I refused at several intervals, so I have no idea if they managed to sneak them in on some other checkpoint or not.

tr6 says

There has not been a single year where I did not have to go through forms view to fix errors.

Go to a tax Pro. Turbo tax is not programmed to take advantage of every loophole for the tax payers. They are in bed WITH the IRS, Turbo Tax is programmed to maximize the tax payer's liability to the IRS.

Used Turbo tax said I owed $700 I talked to an accountant he got me $3000 last year.

My accountant charges $275 to prepare my taxes and finds deductions I have missed or that are new that year saving me money. Turbotax can't do that and it sounds like much more work. Why would I wanna?

there should be no tax at all on earned income, but instead only on unearned income:

* land rents
* interest
* dividends
* capital gains from stock you purchased

we want to encourage productive work, and discourage parasitical income taken from the work of others

rando says

* dividends

* capital gains from stock you purchased

at least the taxes on those should not be lower than taxes on wages.

DieBankOfAmericaPhukkingDie says

Geithner is a piece of shit who GOD! tells me needs to be beaten to death with a champagne bottle.

You are entirely too kind

rando says

there should be no tax at all on earned income, but instead only on unearned income:

* land rents

* interest

* dividends

* capital gains from stock you purchased

we want to encourage productive work, and discourage parasitical income taken from the work of others

It's difficult to determine whose job is unproductive, you could say that about many if not most government positions or administrative jobs, or bankers making a salary in investment. Or Realtors! That's why I think a general flat tax on everything is best, or maybe 0% for day job and 20% for cap gains and in the case of a self-employed trader 10% on everything. Or 0% on long term gains and full cap gains tax on short term gains in general which would also cover the day-trader to some extent. Tricky! Currently I am against capital gains taxes for people who buy stocks with already taxed money, it's double taxation. Of course if income would be taxed at 0% (or close enough) then this would not be a problem anymore, though like every tax you have to cap it at a reasonable percentage, no tax should be so high that it effectively prohibits a particular commerce.

Ironman says

There are some here that say a CEO doesn't earn his income and doesn't do productive work...

That depends on the company. In some companies that's very true, yet the CEO still gets paid as shit load regardless of the performance.

rando says

* land rents

* interest

* dividends

* capital gains from stock you purchased
we want to encourage productive work, and discourage parasitical income taken from the work of others

Where does that leave small business owners who earn money by selling stuff to others?

rando says

there should be no tax at all on earned income, but instead only on unearned income:

* land rents

* interest

* dividends

* capital gains from stock you purchased

Exactly what I proposed in several of my economic reforms to replace capitalism with something better.

4. Tax land usage, not property

Your real estate taxes should be zero. Your tax on land usage should increase exponentially with how much land you use, regardless of its locations.

5. Tax capital gains of real estate and some other assets at 100%.

Real estate appreciates only because land appreciates, and land is a public resource. Actual buildings depreciate as they degrade.

6. Tax capital gains of stocks and similar assets according to T = 1 - 0.01m.

This will eliminate microtrading and speculation while encouraging long-term investments.

Eliminating the income tax on all earned income would definitely be possible if one can separate parasitic income, say from owning a company or being CEO, from earned income from producing wealth, which is what the workers do.