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comment by am_Unition
am_Unition  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: [DEBATE] Let's talk about taxes

Flat with no loopholes.

Have a good time enforcing that.





thenewgreen  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Have a good time enforcing that.
That's why we have an IRS. If they don't exist, they're against the law. Good luck finding a CPA/Audit firm willing to break the law to save you money, not going to happen. Where there is ambiguity, there is opportunity. When there is no ambiguity, there is illegality.
user-inactivated  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Those loopholes are how we get people and organizations to do things though. Americans get pissy if you tell us what to do, so unless it's something dire it's better to offer an incentive than to make demands. Tax breaks are an easy incentive to offer.

am_Unition  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Let's separate loopholes from incentives. Best example: even though there is "incentive" to stow your wealth in an offshore account, I'd like to call that a loophole.

I guess by loopholes, I mean straight up tax evasion. And I'm under the impression that there's a LOT of that going on, but I don't know that anyone has accurately quantified just how much.

Anyway, this isn't in the realm of things that I get payed to know, so I'm pretty lacking in concept. Feel free to school me :).

user-inactivated  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Storing your money in an offshore account isn't a loophole, it's just a thing you do to keep the IRS from calling you on it when you don't mention all the money you have.

am_Unition  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'll rephrase my campaigning as "anti-tax evasion" and keep loopholes synonymous with incentives.

If only we had more taxes to better fund the IRS, so they could crack down on evaders. Self-defeating.

am_Unition  ·  3101 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    If they don't exist, they're against the law.

^ Edit: I guess you're saying that if loopholes didn't exist, they'd be illegal. OK?

Also not sure if you're implying you'd like to reform the relevant legislation or not.

And how are we going to finance a massive overhaul of tax laws that benefit individuals more than corporations? (Do we really want that, or should we try to strike a balance?)

Put in parenthesis because it's obviously not that simple. One man's idea of a balance is another man's landslide.

Bedtime brevity post, sorry.