co-dependent or co-elected?

[irondragon]

I know it may be dull! Trust me I think politics are crazy, but I am concerned about where my next penny comes from. Tax is really bothering me.
For instance should we have inheritance tax? A father works his entire life and pays tax to leave something for his kids, then it's taxed again when he dies???

This is a family site. No swearing allowed ~Jaden

[Hyraxylos]

Well, let's look at this from the basics.

The basic premise behind how taxes work is that you're paying for the services everyone else benefits from. You pay taxes for water, electricity, and food so that OTHER citizens can have water, electricity, and food, and that exchange goes both ways. This is why I find groups like the Tea Party Movement all the more confusing and facepalm for protesting taxes in general.

An inheritance tax, however, doesn't make any sense. Dying doesn't require anything from the government, and giving something to someone else doesn't cost the government anything other than the gift itself, so no, that shouldn't exist.
_________________
The statement below this one is false.
The statement above this one is true.
This statement is false.

[kimodragon]

I don't think that taxes or government should exist. Let chaos reign.
_________________
From you I receive to you I give
Together we share
For this we live

[Hyraxylos]

Government exists because it can't not exist, for the better interests of humanity. Governmental systems were developed as a means of managing large systems of organization within large communities. My family members don't need to pay very much attention to our own electrical systems powering our house because our house is connected to a larger system being managed by professional engineers elsewhere.
_________________
The statement below this one is false.
The statement above this one is true.
This statement is false.

[dragonflame]

The problem with politics, however, is when politicians become more concerned with keeping their political position (power) than with governing the country to the best they of their ability.

[Ragnarok]

So, first off, why pay taxes? Do you drive on the roads? The street, the lights, the signs, the sidewalks, all come from tax money. The car itself has to meet safety regulations set and enforced by people paid with tax money. Public transit? Subsidized by tax money. Airports, and ports, same thing.

The electricity that you're using to power everything comes from public utilities. Police, fire, public hospitals, get tax money. Public workers get paid from tax money.

National defense, the coast guard, life guards at beaches, etc, etc, all get funded by tax money.

As for the taxes themselves, the income tax is a progressive system, which increases based on (more or less), the marginal utility of money. In short, the lowest tax brackets pay a smaller percentage because to them, that money is more critical. I'm perfectly fine with that, other than, perhaps, arguing that the upper tax brackets should be higher.

As for the estate tax, "double taxation" is a somewhat unfair term. First off, as of 2011, anything under $1,000,000 (doubled for couples) is exempt from any tax, an amount which exempts the vast majority of people. Second, the value of some components of said estate, such as investments may never have been taxed the first time. Third, transactions between people are taxable (gift tax), so why not also tax this?

On the social side, an inheritance tax lowers the effects of dynastic wealth, where an uber-rich ancestor will allow people to live lavishly while not doing anything. And with a top tax bracket (over $3,000,000) of 55%, that's still a lot of money which is getting handed down.
_________________
To win against an opponent stronger than yourself, you must not be weaker than that opponent. - Takamachi Nanoha

[kimodragon]

How is legal for our government to tax the money that I earn at least three different times?

They tax it when I earn it and before I see my paycheck.

They tax it when I spend it.

They tax it when it at the end of each year.

This is so wrong,wrong,wrong.
_________________
From you I receive to you I give
Together we share
For this we live

[Ragnarok]

Um...what's with that third one? You mean at tax time, when they figure out how much you've paid, how much you actually owe, and then (usually) issue a refund? Those are also taxes for different thing, income and spending. If you wanted to take issue with all the taxes you pay, then there are also things like property taxes and the gas tax, as well as additional "sin" taxes on things like cigarettes.

As for how legal it is, 100%. Both the federal and state governments have taxing authority, so whatever taxes they levy are legal, by definition.

And for the tax system itself, I'd rather have a simplified progressive income tax system, and do away entirely with sales taxes, since sales taxes tend to be regressive taxes (i.e.: affect the poor far more than the wealthy, as a percentage of income paid on that tax).
_________________
To win against an opponent stronger than yourself, you must not be weaker than that opponent. - Takamachi Nanoha