| Thursday, May 01, 2008 |
| Taxes and a "Political Brownout" |
I got an email from my brother this morning with a link to this article about how Warren Buffet doesn’t feel like he’s paying his fair share of taxes. It’s a valid point considering his secretary pays a greater percentage of her income to the IRS than Mr. Buffet does. I found the article interesting, but it also bugged me a little. Something I’ve been thinking about a lot since doing my taxes this year and (although expecting a chunky return after getting married last year) found out I owed the IRS more money than I’d already shelled out.
Being taxed at 16% (like Warren Buffet) means that you will work around 40 full days out of the year just to pay income taxes. Compare that to the average person’s "Tax Freedom Day" of 4 months, and 40 days actually starts to sound about right.
I’m not a bitter person who expects rich people to pay more taxes. Instead of asking for others to pay more, I just expect the poor to pay less.
Why would I expect anyone to work four months for the government (unless you actually work for the government, and not just to fund the government)? And that’s only talking about income taxes. If you only pay attention to your 1040, you’re missing a huge part of the tax picture.
Don’t forget we get taxed when:
1- We make our money
2- We buy something with our money
3- We keep the property we bought
4- We sell the property we bought
5- And in several other areas we probably don’t understand because of a tax code that is 16,845 pages long
It’s easy for rich people to say "Hey- I'm not getting taxed enough!" and get attention. But if they really want to pay more taxes, I don’t know of anyone out there stopping them. They can tell their accountants to stop finding all those deductions that they pay them big money to find. They can increase the wages they pay their employees. And they can increase the benefits they afford their employees (like company health care), just to name a few. If doing all that still doesn’t ease their conscience (or their need for attention), they can make a voluntary donation to the Treasury to help decrease the national debt—it IS allowed, after all.
If you want to hear some real reason on the subject, check out Thomas L. Friedman’s article in the NYTimes about Hillary and McCains pipe dream of a summer tax break on gas.
"The McCain-Clinton proposal is a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious — the energy to do big things in a sustained, focused and intelligent way. We are in the midst of a national political brownout."
And if you want to read about a politician who sees things for what they really are, check out this short Wall Street Journal article on The Tax Me More Act.
"It's a great injustice that citizens wishing to fulfill their dream of paying more taxes cannot simply check a box on their 1040 form to make a donation..."
Oh- and what about that economic stimulus check set to arrive any day? Not only is it too little, too late—it's a joke. "Here's $600 if you'll pretend with us that everything is OK. Pretend like you actually have $600 to spend. And while you're at it, pretend that it's going to make a drop of difference in the cesspool that is our current political and economic situation."
Like Friedman said- "It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on[...]policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away."
Why don’t I want the government to raise taxes on the rich? Because one day I expect to be "rich"- and when I am, I’d rather give my money to individuals to use—not a government to squander.
By the way- if you need actual good ideas on how to use your stimulus check (assuming you'll be getting one), check here. You'll notice a new flat screen TV didn't make the list. |
posted by Brett Crockett @ 7:00 AM   |
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