Tuesday, November 7, 2017

fair enough

You ever wonder about things ? I do, all the time. Lately I've been wondering about the proposed tax plan from the Trump administration. I haven't really seen it in its' entirety or read it. Generally all I have seen or heard is what the political pundits have to say. Those opinions, for the most part are sharply divided along party lines. I do try to keep in mind that generally speaking the people that are offering these opinions are the ones with a great deal more money than I. I'm certain that changes the perspective entirely. Perhaps these folks are reading the proposed changes and have a complete and thorough understanding of it all. Perhaps they don't.
 Now the thing is I also hear a lot of talk from common everyday people, just like me. I readily confess I don't understand the current tax code and question whether there is anyone that does. When you stop and consider there is a whole industry devoted to figuring out the tax code and filing forms for compliance, it should come as no surprise the average citizen really doesn't have a clue. How many are employed in this business ? How many lawyers and tax consultants are there ? These question are all rhetorical  as there is no real answer to any of it. The tax code is a jungle of laws where every law has a loophole of some kind to benefit whomever first wrote the code. Understanding that much my friends is common sense. Everyone should pay their fair share ! It is defining the fair share that is the issue. If I'm the one writing it, my share isn't the same as yours, of that much you can be certain.
 But the thing I was wondering about is how so many became tax experts overnight. I hear all manner of things explaining how the proposed tax code will make the poor, poorer. Well, unless you are really poor than you don't need to be concerned with any of this stuff, just collect your tax free money. If you are low income folks this is going to make you poor. If you are low-middle income this will make you low income. If you are upper middle class you could wind up, gasp, middle class !  Of course if you are wealthy, your wealth increases. That is the way this new tax system is going to work. That's the way the tax system has always worked right ? The rich people should just pay for everything ! It isn't fair. Thing is, where do rich people get their money ? They get it by providing goods and services to people just like you and I. That money is called , profit ! Amazing thing about profits, it increases your wealth. So how much profit is too much profit ? How much money is too much money ? Shall we put a cap on that ? You are only allowed so much money, anything beyond that threshold must be shared with everyone else ? Limited capitalism ? Or would that be limited socialism ? Is that what we should be striving for ? We will tax the wealthy to the point they become poor like the rest of us ! Then everyone is poor and everyone is happy being poor. Sounds like a fine plan.
 I'm not much of a numbers guy and surely haven't spent a great deal of my time worrying about taxes and money. I have what money I have because I earned that money, no matter the abundance or lack thereof. Taxes are inevitable. But here is an interesting tidbit of information you so seldom hear. According to the Wall Street Journal, still, as far as I know the most respected financial newspaper in the country, the top 20% of earner in this country pay 84% of all income tax received. Stop, let that sink in. The top 20% of earners pay 84% of all income tax collected. Does that seem fair to you ? Then factor this fact into the mix, the bottom 20% get paid from those taxes. That's right, 20% get paid by Uncle Sam. Now like I said I'm not much of a numbers guy but if we were to equally distribute the amount of tax collected over that entire spectrum, from rich to poor  how much is everyone's share going to be ? Well, I can't do that math but I do know it would cost me a whole lot more than what I'm paying now. I look at it like this. 10 people have to pay a tax and the total tax is 100 hundred dollars. The tax code as it is written now says, the top 20% (2 ) will pay 84% of the tax. That means two people each pay 42 cents, two people ( another 20% ) get paid two cents each, leaving six people to pay the 14 cents necessary to reach the tax goal of 100 dollars. Seems right doesn't it ? So how much are you the taxpayer not in either category going to pay ?  You owe 2.3 cents. Make it fair, everyone pays the same, now you owe 10 cents. Sounds fair enough right ? 

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