Ishmael
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2001
- Posts
- 84,005
fundamentally change the tax system. As it is currently constituted the IRS will always be susceptible to undo political influence. The system, as it exists today, is rife with inequities and capricious administration of the codes. It is so complex, confusing, and intrusive that even the IRS is unable to correctly administer the code in certain common situations. (This test has been performed annually by various groups with the same results, call 10 (variable number) 'help line' representatives with a tax question and get 10 different answers.) The current tax code is over 4 million words in length and consumes approx. 6 billion hours of taxpayers time, annually, to comply. Is it any wonder that even the IRS doesn't understand the code they are chartered to enforce?
Corporations, both large and small, get to determine what their tax liability is (profit) by various spending and bookkeeping techniques, whereas the individual taxpayer has their tax liability (profit) determined for them by arbitrary income thresholds.
The root of the problem is the 'individual income tax' paradigm under which the government collects the taxes to begin with. This type of system is necessarily intrusive and wide open to political abuse.
The purpose of taxation is to fund the legitimate operations of government. Obviously we can argue what 'legitimate operations' are until pigs fly, but that is determined by the federal budget which is determined by the elected representatives, all of whom are subject to the whims of the voters. The purpose of taxation is NOT to arbitrarily punish, or reward, any selected constituent group. As soon as you go down that road you necessarily create a political beast, a beast virtually impossible to control and openly subject to abuse.
Surely there's a better way to collect taxes while severely limiting the possibility of political abuse.
Ishmael
Corporations, both large and small, get to determine what their tax liability is (profit) by various spending and bookkeeping techniques, whereas the individual taxpayer has their tax liability (profit) determined for them by arbitrary income thresholds.
The root of the problem is the 'individual income tax' paradigm under which the government collects the taxes to begin with. This type of system is necessarily intrusive and wide open to political abuse.
The purpose of taxation is to fund the legitimate operations of government. Obviously we can argue what 'legitimate operations' are until pigs fly, but that is determined by the federal budget which is determined by the elected representatives, all of whom are subject to the whims of the voters. The purpose of taxation is NOT to arbitrarily punish, or reward, any selected constituent group. As soon as you go down that road you necessarily create a political beast, a beast virtually impossible to control and openly subject to abuse.
Surely there's a better way to collect taxes while severely limiting the possibility of political abuse.
Ishmael
