Taxes - where should top tax rate be set and at what %?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But Romney doesn't "earn" income -- he lives off capital gains. He's paying as much as the tax code requires.

You can raise the income tax to 95% and Romney would still be paying 14%. Assuming you don't eliminate taxes on capital gains, as Trump wants to do.

In that case, Romney -- and most of the .01% -- would pay absolutely nothing.

all income and gains at 15-20%, problem solved

Do the math. It doesn't work. Not enough revenue to run the government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Married couples earning more than $150k should be paying 45% or 50% on all income above $150k.

Obviously, the brackets would be adjusted accordingly, but that's a rough idea where it should be.

Yes let's kill the middle class.

seriously!! glad this PP isn't in charge of tax policy! WTF

150k is above middle class no matter how you slice it. The top 25% in DC starts at $140,000. Below 140 is middle class. You know? The middle?

It is but in DCUM land its barely making it which is why you are getting the animosity

Which again shows the hypcorisy of everyone on here. Tax the rich except don't tax me.

I support liberal policies but I'm not paying for them

You don't get it. I'm the pp with the 100k HHI. That's middle class. I'm not the rich. I support libel policies and am fine paying taxes and get that our taxes will go up as we (hopefully) make more money. If our HHI was $300K and we were whining about barely making it and not being wealthy, you'd have a point, but not everyone on here is actually wealthy.

Wealth is relative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, we don't need to raise tax levels. We just need to require earned AND unearned income to be taxed at the same rate. The IRS should look at all forms of income and tax the individual holistically, regardless of the source of income.

This bifurcation into earned income vs. unearned income is just a giveaway to those who get all their income from passive means. No form of income should be preferred.

Just so long as you understand there are externalities if you do this. Raising the cost of capital does have consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, we don't need to raise tax levels. We just need to require earned AND unearned income to be taxed at the same rate. The IRS should look at all forms of income and tax the individual holistically, regardless of the source of income.

This bifurcation into earned income vs. unearned income is just a giveaway to those who get all their income from passive means. No form of income should be preferred.

Just so long as you understand there are externalities if you do this. Raising the cost of capital does have consequences.

The world will be fine, the economy will continue to churn.
Cost of debt is more important anyways for any major company. No one likes to issue capital, if they can avoid it.

[Anonymous]

I'm not surprised the ignorance of the majority of you PP are when it comes to Income Tax.
The odds of those Businessmen in reality not paying Income Tax is infinitely small.
I'm also not surprised that many want others to pay for their trip thru life. It's not the America I want for my children.

Lets think about the big picture here for a moment. Don't look at the statistics that the Government provides. Remember the phrase "Statistics can tell any story you want " The Government cooks the statistics to promote themselves. The CPI is just one very minor statistic that anyone can research. The definition has changed immensely over the last 30 years. They have "cooked" all the statistics in D.C. that skews reality.

Get away from your skyscrapers in D.C. and look at what is going on in America. The middle class has been decimated. Go look, seriously. Slop your cars and sit on a bench for an hour.
Here's what you'll see going on with the "middleclass"
- An inordinate number of able bodied adults not working. They're just milling around going from place to place. There are no appropriate jobs. Many have given up. Many are on government assistance. It's all sad to watch.
- A huge part of the population doing drugs and being useless in society. Again, no jobs.
- A huge percentage of recent College grads working for starbucks and other service related jobs barely making over minimum wage. Again, no jobs.
- Middle age men that used to drive a car to work. Now they're on bicycle or motor powered bicycles. Again, not enough good paying jobs.
- 30 years ago, middle class was driving a car less than 5 years old. 10 year cars were unusual. Now the highest percentage are driving cars well over 10 yrs old. Again - it's the jobs. Pay has not kept up with inflation. Forget the low inflation the government tells you about. It's all a lie.

We don't need to change the Tax Code and create more hand outs to people not producing. We need better jobs that provide a wage we can live on for those so inclined to work. More and better jobs across this Country would produce significantly more to tax at the current rate. We don't need higher taxes. Problem solved.

Ask yourself this. What candidate is more likely to increase job opportunities ? Which candidate is more likely to keep wages low from increased competition from illegals ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving good paying jobs out of this country ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving middleclass assets down to the lower non working class ? Which candidate is more likely to keep us on the same spiraling downfall we've been on since Clintons NAFTA package ? Seriously, I mean really, is this Twilight Zone. Why is everyone and the media more concerned about Transgender bathrooms and BLM movement than addressing all the Challenges economically in this Country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very easy to pay no taxes if you don't get a W-2. You set everything up as a business, run all passive income (dividends, cap gains, rental income, etc) through the business and charge all your expenses to the business and zero everything out. That's the goal of every CPA.

It would also be tax fraud to run your personal expenses through a business.

But lots and LOTS of business owners do it. They put family on the payroll for basically no-show jobs. From a practical standpoint, it's very difficult to enforce.

NP -- you're actually right. I know many business owners who do this as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm not surprised the ignorance of the majority of you PP are when it comes to Income Tax.
The odds of those Businessmen in reality not paying Income Tax is infinitely small.
I'm also not surprised that many want others to pay for their trip thru life. It's not the America I want for my children.

Lets think about the big picture here for a moment. Don't look at the statistics that the Government provides. Remember the phrase "Statistics can tell any story you want " The Government cooks the statistics to promote themselves. The CPI is just one very minor statistic that anyone can research. The definition has changed immensely over the last 30 years. They have "cooked" all the statistics in D.C. that skews reality.

Get away from your skyscrapers in D.C. and look at what is going on in America. The middle class has been decimated. Go look, seriously. Slop your cars and sit on a bench for an hour.
Here's what you'll see going on with the "middleclass"
- An inordinate number of able bodied adults not working. They're just milling around going from place to place. There are no appropriate jobs. Many have given up. Many are on government assistance. It's all sad to watch.
- A huge part of the population doing drugs and being useless in society. Again, no jobs.
- A huge percentage of recent College grads working for starbucks and other service related jobs barely making over minimum wage. Again, no jobs.
- Middle age men that used to drive a car to work. Now they're on bicycle or motor powered bicycles. Again, not enough good paying jobs.
- 30 years ago, middle class was driving a car less than 5 years old. 10 year cars were unusual. Now the highest percentage are driving cars well over 10 yrs old. Again - it's the jobs. Pay has not kept up with inflation. Forget the low inflation the government tells you about. It's all a lie.

We don't need to change the Tax Code and create more hand outs to people not producing. We need better jobs that provide a wage we can live on for those so inclined to work. More and better jobs across this Country would produce significantly more to tax at the current rate. We don't need higher taxes. Problem solved.

Ask yourself this. What candidate is more likely to increase job opportunities ? Which candidate is more likely to keep wages low from increased competition from illegals ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving good paying jobs out of this country ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving middleclass assets down to the lower non working class ? Which candidate is more likely to keep us on the same spiraling downfall we've been on since Clintons NAFTA package ? Seriously, I mean really, is this Twilight Zone. Why is everyone and the media more concerned about Transgender bathrooms and BLM movement than addressing all the Challenges economically in this Country.

So then where is all the money that previously went to good paying, middle class jobs? It's stuck in corporations.
The only way good, middle class jobs will come back to America is if the US undertakes a massive infrastructure program. That requires increased taxes on the companies that derives so much value from our physical, market, and legal infrastructure. It's time to pay their fair share and reinvest in the American economy. Shareholders will have to suck it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm not surprised the ignorance of the majority of you PP are when it comes to Income Tax.
The odds of those Businessmen in reality not paying Income Tax is infinitely small.
I'm also not surprised that many want others to pay for their trip thru life. It's not the America I want for my children.

Lets think about the big picture here for a moment. Don't look at the statistics that the Government provides. Remember the phrase "Statistics can tell any story you want " The Government cooks the statistics to promote themselves. The CPI is just one very minor statistic that anyone can research. The definition has changed immensely over the last 30 years. They have "cooked" all the statistics in D.C. that skews reality.

Get away from your skyscrapers in D.C. and look at what is going on in America. The middle class has been decimated. Go look, seriously. Slop your cars and sit on a bench for an hour.
Here's what you'll see going on with the "middleclass"
- An inordinate number of able bodied adults not working. They're just milling around going from place to place. There are no appropriate jobs. Many have given up. Many are on government assistance. It's all sad to watch.
- A huge part of the population doing drugs and being useless in society. Again, no jobs.
- A huge percentage of recent College grads working for starbucks and other service related jobs barely making over minimum wage. Again, no jobs.
- Middle age men that used to drive a car to work. Now they're on bicycle or motor powered bicycles. Again, not enough good paying jobs.
- 30 years ago, middle class was driving a car less than 5 years old. 10 year cars were unusual. Now the highest percentage are driving cars well over 10 yrs old. Again - it's the jobs. Pay has not kept up with inflation. Forget the low inflation the government tells you about. It's all a lie.

We don't need to change the Tax Code and create more hand outs to people not producing. We need better jobs that provide a wage we can live on for those so inclined to work. More and better jobs across this Country would produce significantly more to tax at the current rate. We don't need higher taxes. Problem solved.

Ask yourself this. What candidate is more likely to increase job opportunities ? Which candidate is more likely to keep wages low from increased competition from illegals ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving good paying jobs out of this country ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving middleclass assets down to the lower non working class ? Which candidate is more likely to keep us on the same spiraling downfall we've been on since Clintons NAFTA package ? Seriously, I mean really, is this Twilight Zone. Why is everyone and the media more concerned about Transgender bathrooms and BLM movement than addressing all the Challenges economically in this Country.

I agree w/ you, and the candidate more likely to be able to do this is Clinton!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm not surprised the ignorance of the majority of you PP are when it comes to Income Tax.
The odds of those Businessmen in reality not paying Income Tax is infinitely small.
I'm also not surprised that many want others to pay for their trip thru life. It's not the America I want for my children.

Lets think about the big picture here for a moment. Don't look at the statistics that the Government provides. Remember the phrase "Statistics can tell any story you want " The Government cooks the statistics to promote themselves. The CPI is just one very minor statistic that anyone can research. The definition has changed immensely over the last 30 years. They have "cooked" all the statistics in D.C. that skews reality.

Get away from your skyscrapers in D.C. and look at what is going on in America. The middle class has been decimated. Go look, seriously. Slop your cars and sit on a bench for an hour.
Here's what you'll see going on with the "middleclass"
- An inordinate number of able bodied adults not working. They're just milling around going from place to place. There are no appropriate jobs. Many have given up. Many are on government assistance. It's all sad to watch.
- A huge part of the population doing drugs and being useless in society. Again, no jobs.
- A huge percentage of recent College grads working for starbucks and other service related jobs barely making over minimum wage. Again, no jobs.
- Middle age men that used to drive a car to work. Now they're on bicycle or motor powered bicycles. Again, not enough good paying jobs.
- 30 years ago, middle class was driving a car less than 5 years old. 10 year cars were unusual. Now the highest percentage are driving cars well over 10 yrs old. Again - it's the jobs. Pay has not kept up with inflation. Forget the low inflation the government tells you about. It's all a lie.

We don't need to change the Tax Code and create more hand outs to people not producing. We need better jobs that provide a wage we can live on for those so inclined to work. More and better jobs across this Country would produce significantly more to tax at the current rate. We don't need higher taxes. Problem solved.

Ask yourself this. What candidate is more likely to increase job opportunities ? Which candidate is more likely to keep wages low from increased competition from illegals ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving good paying jobs out of this country ? Which candidate is more likely to continue moving middleclass assets down to the lower non working class ? Which candidate is more likely to keep us on the same spiraling downfall we've been on since Clintons NAFTA package ? Seriously, I mean really, is this Twilight Zone. Why is everyone and the media more concerned about Transgender bathrooms and BLM movement than addressing all the Challenges economically in this Country.

So then where is all the money that previously went to good paying, middle class jobs? It's stuck in corporations.
The only way good, middle class jobs will come back to America is if the US undertakes a massive infrastructure program. That requires increased taxes on the companies that derives so much value from our physical, market, and legal infrastructure. It's time to pay their fair share and reinvest in the American economy. Shareholders will have to suck it up.

You realize that means you and your retirement, right? The 401(k)s, 403s, IRAs, etc. When people were vested with an interest in share value, shares started creeping up. And so did executive pay. More shareholder value equals better retirements.

At the end of the day, people have looked for a free ride. Now it's time to pay the piper. We'll all get screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Married couples earning more than $150k should be paying 45% or 50% on all income above $150k.

Obviously, the brackets would be adjusted accordingly, but that's a rough idea where it should be.

Why? On what basis do you think it is acceptable to "confiscate" 50% of anyone's earnings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Married couples earning more than $150k should be paying 45% or 50% on all income above $150k.

Obviously, the brackets would be adjusted accordingly, but that's a rough idea where it should be.

Yes let's kill the middle class.

It's hardly killing someone to insist that those who have been very successful in this economy pay their fair share toward those who haven't. As a progressive society, this is what we should be striving for.

The majority of taxes in this country are already paid by the top 1% and we are currently collecting record amounts of taxes. The issue is not that enough taxes are being paid, the issue is irresponsible spending of those monies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Married couples earning more than $150k should be paying 45% or 50% on all income above $150k.

Obviously, the brackets would be adjusted accordingly, but that's a rough idea where it should be.

Yes let's kill the middle class.

It's hardly killing someone to insist that those who have been very successful in this economy pay their fair share toward those who haven't. As a progressive society, this is what we should be striving for.

It's a misconception that the highly successful aren't paying their fair share. The top 2% (or is it 1%) pay 40% of all federal taxes! and the top 20% pay something like 80%. I'd vote for everyone (other then those under the poverty line) to pay a tiny something and have some skin in the game. As it stands now, almost half the people don't pay any federal income taxes. How about a token payment of $100 per earner?

Every single wage earner should be paying some federal income tax. The fact that so many do not, is why our elected officials get away with irresponsible and wasteful sending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very easy to pay no taxes if you don't get a W-2. You set everything up as a business, run all passive income (dividends, cap gains, rental income, etc) through the business and charge all your expenses to the business and zero everything out. That's the goal of every CPA.

+1

Exactly. Owners don't pay income taxes. Income taxes are for the proles.

Bullshit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But Romney doesn't "earn" income -- he lives off capital gains. He's paying as much as the tax code requires.

You can raise the income tax to 95% and Romney would still be paying 14%. Assuming you don't eliminate taxes on capital gains, as Trump wants to do.

In that case, Romney -- and most of the .01% -- would pay absolutely nothing.

There are a lot of people who don't seem to understand the difference between the .01% and the 1%.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is conveniently ignoring one simple but very important fact: The US is already collecting record amounts of taxes. That's right. Record amounts and the majority of that money is already coming from top earners. We don't have a taxing problem. We have a spending problem.