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

[Anonymous]

It's impossible to separate the answer to this question from your lot in life. If you are poor, indolent and unproductive, you want high tax rates and if you are hardworking, responsible and smart, you want low tax rates.

[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.

Done! Income is money you get, whether wages, capital gains, home sale or inheritance. Do your taxes on a postcard. Let's run some numbers and see how it works out.

[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.

Well said. And, it is obvious that Trump would be the one to pull us out of this horribly anemic economy.
And, the reason the media is more concerned with stupid issues is because Clinton has no real answers, so best to deflect from the number 1 issue of most Americans.

[Anonymous]

Sorry -- I'm still laughing hysterically at the idea that a guy who can't make a CASINO profitable would be "the one" to pull us out of this "horribly anemic" economy.

What world are you people living in?

[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.

+1

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

Bullshit.

Owners of capital don't pay taxes. Income taxes are for people with jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be a top tax rate for millionaires of 50 percent. And an estate tax of 75 percent on estates worth more than $50 million.

No loopholes or deductions.

The high estate tax is a little hard to accept if you have already paid your 40% income tax on it. I don't think money should be taxed twice in the same family, but if you have it hidden away free from tax and then it changes hands through death, then maybe.

According to Picketty's "Capital in the 21st Century," 70% of all wealth in the US was inherited. Most of the rest of it has benefited from decades of tax-free appreciation. Double-taxation is close to mythical in rareness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

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

Bullshit.

Owners of capital don't pay taxes. Income taxes are for people with jobs.

Income when earned is taxed. Capital gains when taken are taxed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This. all day long. And to.the poster wanting to take 50% of a hardworking families income at a measly $150,000. Disgusting. It would kill the already threatened middle class. Yes, $150,000 is middle class. I said it. Responsible people with mortgages and children to provide for who most likely save a good portion for responsible things like retirement and college funds. This says loads about your greed, envy and how little money you must make if you consider this even remotely rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's impossible to separate the answer to this question from your lot in life. If you are poor, indolent and unproductive, you want high tax rates and if you are hardworking, responsible and smart, you want low tax rates.

Agree 110%. Unfortunately being respectful responsible and hard working is now looked down upon and demonized. Poor, lazy and even criminal? Then you are awarded victim status. Thanks liberals!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

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

Bullshit.

Owners of capital don't pay taxes. Income taxes are for people with jobs.

Income when earned is taxed. Capital gains when taken are taxed.

And owners of significant amount of capital are very, very good at keeping capital gains unrealized, or matching realized gains with offsetting losses. The game is to go your entire life without ever realizing gains, then have your heirs avoid any estate tax and take a step-up in basis upon inheritance. Rinse and repeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's impossible to separate the answer to this question from your lot in life. If you are poor, indolent and unproductive, you want high tax rates and if you are hardworking, responsible and smart, you want low tax rates.

Agree 110%. Unfortunately being respectful responsible and hard working is now looked down upon and demonized. Poor, lazy and even criminal? Then you are awarded victim status. Thanks liberals!

Since the significant majority of wealth in this country is inherited, please tell me how your ability to inherit wealth corresponds to being "respectful, responsible and hard working."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This. all day long. And to.the poster wanting to take 50% of a hardworking families income at a measly $150,000. Disgusting. It would kill the already threatened middle class. Yes, $150,000 is middle class. I said it. Responsible people with mortgages and children to provide for who most likely save a good portion for responsible things like retirement and college funds. This says loads about your greed, envy and how little money you must make if you consider this even remotely rich.

There is a big difference between the top earners and the wealthiest. In the context of the tax statistics, top earners are those who report the highest taxable income, it's a tautology that they will pay the most taxes. People who are truly wealthy don't rely on income. If you have billions of dollars it's straight-forward to arrange your affairs so you can live a lavish lifestyle without ever realizing capital gains, and generate enough deductions to cancel out any pesky dividend income or miscellaneous income that pops up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be a top tax rate for millionaires of 50 percent. And an estate tax of 75 percent on estates worth more than $50 million.

No loopholes or deductions.

You can't just say "no loopholes or deductions." You'll just get families putting those assets into trusts and limited partnerships. Those aren't going away, and you can't just take them away from one group of people.

That's why we should be taxing spending. But people are too freaking dumb to make that leap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that wealthy do need to pay their share of taxes. I do, and it's how the free world works. Nurses, teachers, laborers are all paying taxes that cover services that we all benefit from. I was at a dinner party the other night and three of the very wealthy men there were bragging that they hadn't paid taxes in over a decade (legally through loop holes). I asked if they were embarrassed that their kids' teachers and the mail man were paying for their snow removal, road maintenance, police protection, fire department etc. They were a little stunned, and I was a little sickened by their attitude. And for what it's worth, one was a Trump supporter and the other two were liberals.

I find this hard to believe. First it's a very inappropriate and crass thing to talk about. Second this means all three men haven't had a W2 in over a decade. In other words they don't have a job and live off of investments. If they live off of investments this means they haven't sold stock in over a decade.

This simply isn't true. You can have W-2 income and still pay no taxes. Yes, you have taxes withheld from those earnings, but it you have losses elsewhere (like investment real estate tends to generate) and other deductions, then you can, in fact, pay no net taxes.

[Anonymous]

Close loopholes for hedgies and corporate inverters and it's be fine.