[Vision2020] taxation

[Scott Dredge]

Dale,

I think now you're finally getting somewhere in that
understanding where all the taxes come from can assist
you in strategically minimizing taxes (if you so
desire).  There are also a number of income deductions
you can elect to take.  Deducting mortgage interest on
a primary residence is popular one, although I
personally don't think that it's such a great deal to
pay $10k in mortgage interest to save $4k in taxes (to
use your 40% tax number).  The better idea actually
might be to not carry a home mortgage and with the
same $10k in income, pay the $4k in taxes and invest
the other $6k. And, yes not carrying a home mortgage
brings up other things like is it wise to have a lot
of money sunk into a home or is it wise to pay rent,
etc.  My point is that there are lot of variables that
can be adjusted when dealing with income, income
deductions, taxes, outlays, etc..  People who make
finances a priority on their lives figure out how
maximize their gains and minimize their costs
(including taxes).  In general, people who can most
afford to purchase items tend to negotiate lower
prices and receive lower interest on loans for funding
these purchases (because they are at a low risk of
defaulting on such a loan) than the people who can
least affort these purchases.

So if I understand you correctly, you think that taxes
are too high, should be lowered, and this will have
some unidentified positive effect and lead to fixing
some unidentified broken things within the current US
economy and/or possibly the world economy.  And
possibly with all the money people save in taxes, a
lot of them will gladly cough up a lot of this
savings, perhaps not all their tax savings, to
philanthropic causes.  Apologies if I've
misinterpreted this because I'm not actually sure of
the problem that you - and now Donovan - are trying to
solve.

If you want a more overall efficient tax structure or
if you want a fairer tax system for all or both or
have any other reasons, then I might agree that there
could be some wiggle room to make some adjustments to
the tax code which seems to occur every year already. 
And yet again, the people who make their finances a
priority will react to these changes and adjust their
income / saving / spending / financial strategies
appropriately such that they now exploit the new
system while the same saps who are incapable of
mananging their money will just continue with their
same poor financial habits leading to yet another
round of calls for over hauling this new "unfair" tax
structure.

I'm really not the best person on this list to be
arguing raising, lowering, maintaining, overhauling,
whatever, the current tax code because I don't have
any great objection to anything that happens as long
the current infrastructure is maintained or improved
by any of these changes.  And as far as all the
different types of taxes that we pay that you've
listed below...well to me that's just part of the cost
of doing business.  If I really was averse to paying
property taxes, I wouldn't own property.  If I wanted
to avoid sales tax, I'd move to a state where no sales
tax was charged, etc.

-Scott

--- Dale Courtney <dmcourtn@moscow.com> wrote:
> Scott,
> 
> I meant to spell out the various taxes that you are
> likely overlooking. I've
> been trying to come up with a fairly comprehensive
> list: 
> 
> 1. Individual Income Taxes
>    a. Federal
>    b. State & Local
> 2. Social Insurance Taxes
>    a. Federal
> 3. Sales & Excise Taxes
>    a. Federal
>    b. State
> 4. Property Taxes
>    a. Local (and even State-level...)
> 5. Corporate Income Taxes
>    a. Federal
>    b. State/Local
> 
> Note: sales and excise taxes are hidden taxes. These
> taxes imposed by
> government raise the prices of nearly all goods and
> services. 
> 
> Similarly, corporate income taxes must be counted as
> part of the nation's
> overall tax burden because taxes on businesses are
> ultimately passed on to
> consumers & employees in the form of higher prices,
> lower wages, etc. 
> 
> So, if you want to find the overall tax burden,
> don't just look at your W-2!
> 
> Merry Christmas!
> 
> Best,
> Dale
> 
>
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