Your not gonna like this: - Page 2

Valigator · #16 08-26-2008, 05:19 PM

Look I am no tax genius like Fabs, we have an amendment 5 on the table here for a penny cent increase, initially I was for it because let the freakin illegals pay their share of everything they walk out of the store with...but then I got you know what up my backside and decided before they come crawling for money again let them cut the fat...out of the over-bloated underperforming agencies we have spent millions on....teachers are whining big time here...but you know Val, she follows the big money on the school budget and the scams being perpetrated by vendors and buying property for new schools got my feathers in an uproar...I have nothin against teachers and they need to be paid their due, but they also need to police their own budget which they dont do...instead they come to the taxpayor when they should demand an audit of where thier funds go to..

Valigator · #17 08-26-2008, 05:21 PM

Oh and why you guys are tinkering back and forth on the tax issue, you might want to read the fine print in either of them, somehow they dont quite put that on the ballots...

rattus58 · #18 08-26-2008, 11:10 PM

Of course I'm married, that is where all my "spendable" income goes :grin: I need a little for myself now....

Aloha...

fabsroman · #19 08-27-2008, 08:42 AM

Hey Classic, why is it that if you and I commit the same crime in the same jurisdiction, and I have a better lawyer than you I will get off or get less time than you? LOL

Last night I met with 3 people that are starting a home improvement business, one of whom already owns a commercial asphalt business, and he was telling me that his CPA from last year was so negligent with his taxes that the IRS audited him for a week and they didn't even want to talk to his CPA on the matter. He ended up getting dinged for some interest and penalties, but not too much once they pieced his entire return together.

Pick your professionals carefully. Yes, some tax preparers can promise the world, and I have seen some returns that would land people in jail if they were audited. I don't know if the taxpayer even knew that when they signed the tax return. If it is too good to be true, it usually is. If one preparer can get you a much larger refund than another, you need to sit down and ask yourself why.

Anyway, this is the reason that Maryland is requiring every tax preparer to register in the state for a license if they aren't already an attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent with the IRS. The new bill passed this session also requires them to obtain a certain amount of continuing education every so often.

As far as the progressive "flat tax" that you are proposing, I definitely am not for that. That doesn't even make it fair at all. Honestly, we could accomplish the same thing right now just by using the current tax brackets and getting rid of the rest of the code.

The reason why we will never have a flat tax is because the tax code allows government to influence how we spend our money. The current code encourages things like buying a home, starting a business, remodeling a home with energy efficient windows and doors, buying a hybrid vehicle. Heck, they just passed a bill giving new home buyers a $7,500 tax credit if they buy a house before some time in 2009.

How many lobbyists do you think work on having provisions put into the tax code to favor their industry?

By the way, I'm married too, and my wife is a saint compared to me in the spending category and I thought I was pretty good about it before I met her.

rattus58 · #20 08-27-2008, 11:26 AM

WEll then.... we need a tax break fer her interests then...

A Flat tax won't work because the governors (Congress) can't stand to let things be ungoverned.

Aloha...

Skinny Shooter · #21 08-27-2008, 12:59 PM

Aren't the ones who would be paying a flat tax actually the tax-paying residents of the US?

What about the rest of the individuals who dodge taxes?

rattus58 · #22 08-27-2008, 02:41 PM

If we find em we hang em.... what's wrong about dat?

skeet · #23 08-27-2008, 04:35 PM

A flat tax would work. especially if we started it at a reasonable amount..say 10 grand. No write offs..at a flat rate of 6%. Make 40 grand pay 2400...100 grand pay 6000. No corporate write offs at a rate of 4% of profit before paying dividends. No tax on Social Security payments. Say it won't work...BULL. May not be popular because it would put a bunch of people out of work...especially lobbyists and tax lawyers but it would be good for the average taxpayer. And for the ones who say it ain't fair...who said life is fair. Live with a simple tax code instead of what we have...Even lawyers don't understand it all. How can the average person file his own taxes and have things turn out right(fair??). Not dissing ya Fabs but you know it is true..the lawyers(lobbyists) have made it necessary to have a tax preparer. Just shouldn't be that way. At least it would be the same for everyone!!

Jack · #24 08-27-2008, 05:42 PM

"No write offs..at a flat rate of 6%."
That would be very nice!
Remember when Steve Forbes was running for the Republican nomination, and pushing the flat tax idea? He proposed a flat rate of 17%. Hmmmmm, maybe not quite so nice.
Then, some economists ran Forbes' numbers, and discovered that, to generate the revenue Forbes said the tax would generate, you'd have to use a flat tax rate of 33%.
Starts not sounding so good......

Skinny Shooter · #25 08-27-2008, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rattus58
If we find em we hang em.... what's wrong about dat?

Hmmmmm

fabsroman · #26 08-27-2008, 08:42 PM

Skeet,

I'm not going to disagree with you on the taxes issue. Heck, during tax season I find myself up late at night researching issues that my clients are bringing me for the first time. I don't even know all of it.

Then again, the laws in society are insane nowadays. That is why attorneys practice in specific fields. There is no way we can possibly know it all. The world is getting way too complicated.

skeet · #27 08-28-2008, 12:16 AM

If every worker in the US and all corporations paid the flat rates of 6 and 4 percent ..the figures came out higher than what the US is getting from taxes(income) now..quite a bit higher if I remember correctly. Remember no write offs..every body would pay. No getting out of it. Of course this will never happen. Too many people would fight it tooth and nail...especially the politicians. They wouldn't be able to peddle their influence in tax issues any longer..Lobbyists.. Tax lawyers..Lot of money there. Fabs is right..they wouldn't let it float. And a lot of people would go ahead and pay their taxes if they knew it was done fairly and equitably..which isn't true now. The tax code should not be too hard for the average taxpayer to understand...much less a tax lawyer.

Jack · #28 08-28-2008, 10:54 AM

For probably more than you want to know about the flat tax concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_tax

skeet · #29 08-28-2008, 11:20 AM

er....ahhh..thanks for all the info...I think. That article was even more mixed up than I am..lots of...info to be sure. Was they fer it....or agin it??

rattus58 · #30 08-28-2008, 11:45 AM

A flat tax would, for one, put out of business a new class of worker, the white collar cpa, according to many.... This is the problem with congress, they will never suffer by their actions. Ten years and they get a pension of 6 figures, free health care for life, and millions in perks along the way.... Term Limits, no pension, no free anything should be the rule.

A flat tax on ALL income would increase revenues without question. It would also eliminate the IRS. I mean, with no child left behind, we should be able to figure out 6% or 15% of something.....

Most of the proposals I've seen are 17% with deductions for home mortgages and healthcare.

Aloha... Tom