Government takes many slices to hide the total take. And that is just the cash.
Government also takes by unfunded mandates, PLUS borrowing (tax on unborn), PLUS estate (tax on dead), PLUS cost of all laws, rules and regulations, PLUS inflation, the cruelest tax falling worst on the poor. Overprinting currency = inflation, cheats savers and lets government borrow even more.
The current Biden budget proposal contains a capital gains tax rate twice the current rate. The magic number is 39.6%.
The US had no income tax until 3 Feb 1913 when the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified granting the Feds the right to tax income.
We should have a consumption tax rather than an income tax and it should be slightly progressive by inserting a floor below which there is no tax.
The biggest problem is the Federal gov't's insatiable hunger for profligate spending and their inability to control both that appetite and the bloated gov't it has created.
We have more IRS agents than US Marines and that is disgusting.
It is a slovely mess and the corruption is beyond belief.
I sometimes wonder what the Founders would say if they could be transported in time to today, and observed our modern tax system.
Not only on the complexity of it, but the pure plethora of various taxes--including on income--and the sheer amount taken. Wasn't the Tea Rebellion over a 2% stamp tax?
Great post today Mr Carter! I feel as if the government has been playing "3 Card Monti" with the tax system for so long they think we're going to be forever duped! Keep up the good fight and the information may eventually seep into the low information voters consciousness!
A simpler way of looking at it is that Corporations view taxes as just another operating expense. Objective is to minimize it (as all expenses) and include it in the determination of selling prices.
The other GREAT shortfall is that while not only does the general population not understand how the tax system works, politicians and government workers are in the same boat. For example, we put tariffs on China recently to reduce dependance on their goods and the subsidies they provide. Then at the same time, we are choosing to tax companies more to drive them to "off-shore" their manufacturing. All this while we encourage more on-shoring of manufacturing with government grants, but forget the extra tax burden impact to the companies.
It’s interesting to me that much if not most of Bill Gates wealth is wrapped into non-profits. It seems like he is exploiting the system in some manner. The non-profit accumulates wealth tax free which he uses to influence organizations like the WHO which is working to enslave us. Interesting that…
I'm not much for consumption taxes for the same reason I disdain sales tax-I don't think that retailers or restaurant owners should be forced to work for free as tax collectors for the Omnipresent State.
That said, I agree with Jeff that corporate rates should be zero. Corporations-that can just as easily be small businesses or sole proprietorships-are the lifeblood of a nation. They provide the jobs that feed us, the pipeline of domestic goods and services that allow us to be self contained, and the innovation that heralds a future of greater prosperity. What sane government would seek to derail, all that?
Demands on U.S. corporations have hijacked the concept of Free Trade and caused us to contemplate Fair Trade. How can a company that sets up shop across the border with no minimum wage requirements, no OSHA, EPA or other regs, and no onerous taxes, be allowed to compete versus our own companies, who're running the same race with a 50lb handicap?
And it can get even worse than corporate income tax ignorance.
I lived in Canada for several years, during which they introduced a VAT. Even when the government clearly spelled it out, most people couldn't grasp the cumulative effect.
Great article. I cannot count how many times I’ve tried, and failed, to explain this to people who don’t own a business. But the government damn sure understands it. Just like the payroll withholding tax, it’s a lot easier to force a business to collect the gov’t take than individuals. Then blame the business for rapacious prices and profits driven by greed, repeat ad nauseam in the sock-puppet media, and the illusion is perceived reality.
Lather, rinse, repeat. At every stage of production.
“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.” —Jean-Baptiste Colbert 1619–83
I disagree with a consumption tax for just that reason. Business is still the middleman, and the hissing is still muted. Nothing changes to control government spending, or bring the facts front and center. Until every individual has to write a check directly to the government for their “fair share” they will never understand the true cost of the state.
Government takes many slices to hide the total take. And that is just the cash.
Government also takes by unfunded mandates, PLUS borrowing (tax on unborn), PLUS estate (tax on dead), PLUS cost of all laws, rules and regulations, PLUS inflation, the cruelest tax falling worst on the poor. Overprinting currency = inflation, cheats savers and lets government borrow even more.
It's vicious and deliberate; future be damned.
The current Biden budget proposal contains a capital gains tax rate twice the current rate. The magic number is 39.6%.
The US had no income tax until 3 Feb 1913 when the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified granting the Feds the right to tax income.
We should have a consumption tax rather than an income tax and it should be slightly progressive by inserting a floor below which there is no tax.
The biggest problem is the Federal gov't's insatiable hunger for profligate spending and their inability to control both that appetite and the bloated gov't it has created.
We have more IRS agents than US Marines and that is disgusting.
It is a slovely mess and the corruption is beyond belief.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
I sometimes wonder what the Founders would say if they could be transported in time to today, and observed our modern tax system.
Not only on the complexity of it, but the pure plethora of various taxes--including on income--and the sheer amount taken. Wasn't the Tea Rebellion over a 2% stamp tax?
My, how times change.
Great post today Mr Carter! I feel as if the government has been playing "3 Card Monti" with the tax system for so long they think we're going to be forever duped! Keep up the good fight and the information may eventually seep into the low information voters consciousness!
A simpler way of looking at it is that Corporations view taxes as just another operating expense. Objective is to minimize it (as all expenses) and include it in the determination of selling prices.
The other GREAT shortfall is that while not only does the general population not understand how the tax system works, politicians and government workers are in the same boat. For example, we put tariffs on China recently to reduce dependance on their goods and the subsidies they provide. Then at the same time, we are choosing to tax companies more to drive them to "off-shore" their manufacturing. All this while we encourage more on-shoring of manufacturing with government grants, but forget the extra tax burden impact to the companies.
It’s interesting to me that much if not most of Bill Gates wealth is wrapped into non-profits. It seems like he is exploiting the system in some manner. The non-profit accumulates wealth tax free which he uses to influence organizations like the WHO which is working to enslave us. Interesting that…
I'm not much for consumption taxes for the same reason I disdain sales tax-I don't think that retailers or restaurant owners should be forced to work for free as tax collectors for the Omnipresent State.
That said, I agree with Jeff that corporate rates should be zero. Corporations-that can just as easily be small businesses or sole proprietorships-are the lifeblood of a nation. They provide the jobs that feed us, the pipeline of domestic goods and services that allow us to be self contained, and the innovation that heralds a future of greater prosperity. What sane government would seek to derail, all that?
Demands on U.S. corporations have hijacked the concept of Free Trade and caused us to contemplate Fair Trade. How can a company that sets up shop across the border with no minimum wage requirements, no OSHA, EPA or other regs, and no onerous taxes, be allowed to compete versus our own companies, who're running the same race with a 50lb handicap?
It amazes me that people don't get this.
And it can get even worse than corporate income tax ignorance.
I lived in Canada for several years, during which they introduced a VAT. Even when the government clearly spelled it out, most people couldn't grasp the cumulative effect.
Most people can’t understand this simple statement:
Corporations don’t pay corporate taxes, people do.
Excessive and unnecessary regulations are also a form of tax.
What is the approximate current dollar value on corporate taxes paid in any given year in the past half decade or so to the government?
Neal Boortz was on to something when he was promoting the"Fair Tax."
Great article. I cannot count how many times I’ve tried, and failed, to explain this to people who don’t own a business. But the government damn sure understands it. Just like the payroll withholding tax, it’s a lot easier to force a business to collect the gov’t take than individuals. Then blame the business for rapacious prices and profits driven by greed, repeat ad nauseam in the sock-puppet media, and the illusion is perceived reality.
Lather, rinse, repeat. At every stage of production.
“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.” —Jean-Baptiste Colbert 1619–83
I disagree with a consumption tax for just that reason. Business is still the middleman, and the hissing is still muted. Nothing changes to control government spending, or bring the facts front and center. Until every individual has to write a check directly to the government for their “fair share” they will never understand the true cost of the state.