idea and solutions however unpractical

[plural]

I would start
with tax reform
my tax code
would be one
page long

if you made less than 25k
you would not be liable for any tax

income over 25k but less than 100k would
be taxed at 15%

income over 100k but less than 250k
would be taxed at 20%

all dollars earned over 250k would
be taxed at 35%

for those of you who arent familar with marginal tax codes
it would work like this
you pay no tax on the first 25k of income
all dollars earned between 25k and 100k would be
taxable at 15% and so on

so a family that earned 150k
would pay no tax on the first 25k
on the next 75k they would pay 15% or

income would be defined
as either a) wages
or b) investment profits

gifts from between individuals would be
non taxable and I would eliminate estate tax.

I do not support the elimination of estate tax
as it stands now, but under this concept
I feel it is only fair.

gifts from corporations to individuals
would be taxable as income
paid by the donor

basic concept is
you pay income tax once

property taxes and sales taxs would be
unchanged

I would only allow one
tax deduction
charitable contributions

I would subdivide non-profits into
two catagories

human services and
all others

human services donation would
recieve a 125% deduction from
earned income

where as other organizations would
get the current 100%

I would define human services
as organizations which provide
basic human services to people
who can not otherwise provide them

free or low cost medical clinics
places that feed the needy

Businesses would pay
3.5% of all revenue
not profits

Assuming a federal buget of 2.4 trillion dollars a year
and an employed workforce of 132.43 million people
the cost of government per employed person is
$18,122.78

10% of the population earns 28% of the total income
so 13.243 million people earn 28% of the income

if we assume that the average income of these
individual (I couldnt find appropriate numbers)
is $500,000
they would each under the above plan
owe $128,750 in income tax

This would provide a revenue to the government of
1.7 trillion which is the lion share of the federal budget

this does not include taxes paid by
the other 90% of people
nor corporations.

I wasnt able to locate figures to calculate
these numbers as precisely as I hoped
but I think my roughy figures shows
that it would provide enough income
to run the government.

One of the biggest merits of this idea
in my opinion is that it would eliminate
tax loopholes that many wealthy people
and corporations use to evade paying taxes.

and it would simplify the tax structure
and save billions in the costs of tracking
and preparing tax returns.

thats one idea
I will post more as time progresses

please feel free to
shoot it full of holes
I welcome all your opinions

if you can bring real numbers
so much the better.

P

Comments

[petermarcus.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of a National Retail Sales Tax (http://www.fairtax.org). The deal is this:

*No income or payroll (SS/Medicare) taxes
*Flat sales tax on retail items (I can't remember the number -- 15%?)
*No sales taxes on necessities (food)
*The poorer citizens don't buy as much so don't get taxed as much (or at all), especially with the necessities being tax-free.
*The richer citizens, buying more stuff, get taxed more -- but only what they buy. Investments could be done tax-free.
*Criminals, drug dealers, gamblers, mafia hitmen, etc., who pretty much live tax free, suddenly start paying taxes.
*Everyone makes more money with no withholding/SS/Med removed from their paychecks
*Initially, everything will cost more, too, so it balances. There's a theory, though, that since businesses don't have to have accountants and paperword for withholding and payroll taxes, that cost of goods may actually go down, even with the sales tax added in.
*No IRS.
*SS/Medicare funded out of the general fund, so lesser chance of insolvency (though there are a buncha negatives with that -- SS/Medicare reform is another rant, though :)

It's not a perfect idea, but I think it's a shitload better than what we got now.

[millionz.livejournal.com]

It is the same idea Allan Keyes used as his tax platform when he ran as republican candiate for pres. He finished at about 2% maybe less and most believe it is becuase of Ideas like this. I can't say whether it will work or not and I don't mean to say that the idea is horrible for all I know it could work fabulously I am no economist. But the main opposition to the idea of collecting tax entirely through sales tax and eliminating income tax is that everyone automatically assumes it is a crackpot idea. Keyes was without a doubt the best orator throught the republican primaries. If debating skill determined who won, he certainly would have been the republican candidate for pres. But everyone rejected his candidacy because Ideas like this, whether they will work or not, just seem unfeesable.

Re:

[petermarcus.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I agree with you. I think the Natl Sales Tax is a great idea, and I believe, after studying it for a few months, that it would do pretty much 90% of what they say it will do (MHO and all that). There's even a Republican and a Democrat sponsoring the thing.

But, it doesn't have a realistic chance in hell of passing, and that's the pity. This org (fairtax.org) is doing a good job of trying to soften the crackpot reaction...they do some limited advertising, tours in cities to explain the concepts, etc. But, they're either preaching to the converted, or preaching to the insignificant minority of voters that actually research stuff like this.