That sounds like SUCH a great idea Charlie





:dreaming of the day this becomes reality:

 

Damn, that sure brightens my mood. Let's not talk about taxes anymore!!

Oh, hey, is that the New Zealand place that you and Peter were talking about a few weeks ago? That was only a few million, right?

 

Income taxes: Federal, States (most states), and Counties can all levy income taxes. Additionally we have Social Security (welfare) and Medicare taxes on our income.

Property taxes: State, County, and municipalities can all levy taxes on property. Indiana has an inventory tax levied on businesses - February is an awesome time to shop here, since March 1st is the day the inventory level is declared.

Sales taxes: States and municipalities can levy a sales tax. I think counties in some states can as well. The states I'm familiar with are Wisconsin (5% state, Milwaukee + 0.5%), Indiana (was 5%, now 6%, Fort Wayne has a + 1% on dining/alcohol purchases), and Michigan (6%, I recall Detroit having an extra 0.5% for something). Chicago's rate is 8.25% - 7% for the state, 0.5% for the county, 0.75% for the city.

"Sin" Taxes: Alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, gambling, etc. Tobacco is heavily taxed at the federal level. States can tax as well. Alcohol is lightly taxed federally, and the states vary wildly - Wisconsin's is very low, Michigan's fairly high (High enough to justify driving 200 miles to a Wisconsin liquor store for a big party). Gasoline taxes are very low by European standards. Gambling taxes are the new "in" form of taxation. Indiana has sold its soul to riverboat casinos.

Use/Excise taxes: Automobile regs, toll roads, fishing permits, etc. These are mostly state/local taxes, and vary wildly. For example, it was $80 to title/license my S2000 with a custom plate in Wisconsin ($55 for a generic plate). It's close to $300 in Indiana. Excise taxes are probably the epitome of nickel and diming - to go fishing in Wisconsin, for example, you'd spend $20 for a fishing permit, $10 to get a launch permit, $35 to register your boat for the year, etc.

Anyway, I don't know what it's like in the UK or Japan, but taxes are a huge battle over here... All the politicians are trying to help out whoever bought their seat. So you get the big-wig republicans trying to eliminate taxes for their rich backers, democrats trying to wipe out taxes for the poor and middle class folks (and instead taxing businesses to death), etc. The only straight forward solutions (flat income tax or sales-tax-only) both penalize the lower spectrum of people to the point of not being able to live... it's a difficult task, more difficult because most politicians are such weasels...

 

Billy, dude... STFU!!!

 

I can't remeber where that island was ..... I am sure that we could raise a few million between us and buy us a nice island where we could become self sufficient and get away from the rat race of life ....

 

Actually, Billy, my platform for president will be totally flat income tax. Will you vote for me!!

One percentage, no loopholes. The entire tax code will go from 20 books of nonsense to one paragraph.

What REALLY bothers me about the tax code in the US is that it is used to modify spending behavior. I think that is inherently wrong. The point of taxes is to raise money to support our governments, but it got perverted along the line by special interest groups and became a complex mess.

I think if we just taxed all income at one rate, that rate could be fairly low. And think of how much simpler the tax collection and enforcement would be.

 

Lemme sell of the rugrats for medical experiments, and cash in a few stock certificates... Shouldn't take me long.

I'm in.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chazmo
[B]Sorry to hear it, Brunt.

This discussion is depressing me.

 

I must be more left wing than you Charlie. I think tax should be done on a sliding scale, the more you earn the higher the tax rate ..... I noticed as my salary increased over the years that for instance a $5,000 increase when you are already on say $40,000 would make a much bigger improvement in your standard of living than the same increase when you are on say $25,000. Simply because at the lower level you are making do and getting by without things that you feel you need, whereas at the higher level you already have all the things you need, so the raise can all be put into things you want ..... therefore I feel it is reasonable to increase the tax rate as your income increases ....

 

Let's not forget the recent proposal in Washington state to implement a special tax on coffee...