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Author Topic: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax  (Read 21887 times)

bblackwood

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2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« on: April 07, 2010, 05:39:44 PM »

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20100407ne arly_half_of_us_households_escape_fed_income_tax/

Unreal.

I'm speechless.
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Brad Blackwood
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RMoore

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2010, 07:25:19 PM »

From the same article:

The vast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes, including federal payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and excise taxes on gasoline, aviation, alcohol and cigarettes. Many also pay state or local taxes on sales, income and property.
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compasspnt

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2010, 08:59:45 PM »

The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners — households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 — paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

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el duderino

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2010, 09:58:32 PM »

ah the product of tax cuts.
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Barry Hufker

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2010, 12:30:33 AM »

Having read the article, it strikes me the author has an agenda.

It is the word "escape" or the phrase "escape Federal income tax".  When what it means is they don't owe money.  They didn't "escape" anything.  If anyone gets a refund on the money they prepaid the government in the form of taxes, this article makes them sound as if they cheated the government or somehow "escaped" the taxes.

Legitimately, some people make very little and so various deductions, credits, etc. negate the amount of income tax they pay.  But there is a huge difference between people who are having taxes waived and corporations who have off-shore accounts and manipulate the tax system.

I'm getting a refund this year.  Am I evil (OK, separate debatable question) or have I "escaped" Federal income tax?  I didn't escape anything.  The Feds had my money for 12 months, earning interest on it and now I'm getting a portion back.  Gee, I guess I escaped earning interest on my money...

I'd take this article with a boulder of salt.

Barry

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danickstr

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2010, 12:49:57 AM »

Let's not forget that many retirement ready households lost a lot of their investment value which affects their bottom line on income earned.

Also, the 73% number misleads people to think that the rich pay 73% income tax.  Most pay only 15% capital gains and therefore a smaller percentage than the upper middle class who pay the full 36% on earned income.

Who would you rather be, a head of household getting 1800 a month on unemployment or welfare, or a guy making 30 grand a month, and paying 15% of it to Uncle Sam?
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Edvaard

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2010, 01:06:24 AM »


You guys are reading carefully, understanding what the numbers actually mean, etc. That takes all the fun out of it.

I like the part where the authors try their best to make it look like the lower 40% earners are all getting a nice fat check from the government beyond their normal paycheck.

LOTS more fun.


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Podgorny

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2010, 09:17:43 AM »

Not to throw a wrench in all this but...

Most of us don't have any source of income.  Only wages.


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ssltech

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2010, 09:22:23 AM »

My missus is a source of outgo... does that count for anything?

-Oh, and can I get Uncle Sam to cover that?
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Jon Hodgson

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2010, 10:48:14 AM »

Podgorny wrote on Thu, 08 April 2010 14:17

Not to throw a wrench in all this but...

Most of us don't have any source of income.  Only wages.





Not to throw a dictionary into all this but...

Wages are income
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MDM,

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2010, 12:15:59 PM »

compasspnt wrote on Wed, 07 April 2010 19:59

The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners — households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 — paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.

The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.





nobody has ever proved that income tax goes to pay for programs that benefit everyone.

I say the less income tax the better.

don't fool yourselves into thinking that more taxes will solve anything.. the government (not only USA) spends way more than it has and more than taxes could pay for.

even if there were no taxes, the government would simply spend the money they don't have, creating indirect taxation though inflation.

has anyone ever audited the IRS?

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Podgorny

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2010, 12:34:48 PM »

Jon,

income |ˈinˌkəm; ˈi ng-|
noun
money received, esp. on a regular basis, for work or through investments


wage |wāj|
noun (usu. wages)
• a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, made by an employer to an employee, esp. to a manual or unskilled worker
• the part of total production that is the return to labor as earned income as distinct from the remuneration received by capital as unearned income.


The point being that there are those who firmly believe that income tax was intended for those who made money from investments as opposed to those who earned a wage.



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Jon Hodgson

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2010, 12:42:00 PM »

Podgorny wrote on Thu, 08 April 2010 17:34

Jon,

income |ˈinˌkəm; ˈi ng-|
noun
money received, esp. on a regular basis, for work or through investments


wage |wāj|
noun (usu. wages)
• a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, made by an employer to an employee, esp. to a manual or unskilled worker
• the part of total production that is the return to labor as earned income as distinct from the remuneration received by capital as unearned income.


The point being that there are those who firmly believe that income tax was intended for those who made money from investments as opposed to those who earned a wage.






Thanks, you've just proven my point with those definitions.

Wages are income. (In this case money received for work)

Income is not necessarily wages.

As for what income taxes were originally intended for, it's fairly irrelevant, what matters is what they're intended for today and more importantly that they're a legal requirement. Income tax in the UK started to pay for a war, can we now say we're not liable for income tax because that war ended? No.
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Jon Hodgson

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2010, 12:52:09 PM »

Podgorny wrote on Thu, 08 April 2010 17:34

The point being that there are those who firmly believe that income tax was intended for those who made money from investments as opposed to those who earned a wage.



The wording of the USA's first income tax statute (1861) is very clear... ALL ncome, including "from any profession, trade or vocation".

The income tax of 1894 has the same wording.

So that belief would appear to be wishful thinking, since your laws never appear to have excluded wages from the calculation of income for taxation purposes.
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danickstr

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Re: 2009: Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax
« Reply #14 on: April 08, 2010, 10:23:12 PM »

I am going to start a reality TV show called "The Semantics Police".
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