[HN Gopher] Taxes Are for the Little People
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Taxes Are for the Little People
Author : rbanffy
Score : 75 points
Date : 2021-06-19 18:30 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pluralistic.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (pluralistic.net)
| djenendik wrote:
| I no longer live in the US, but once held permanent residence
| status. I plan on running a little experiment: submit randomly
| generated tax returns to the irs. I'll keep you posted.
| useful wrote:
| Why is carried interest still a thing? Why are fixed fees taken
| by investment managers not taxed as income?
|
| I think the current administration could fix these things easily
| but we are talking about all kinds of other things while ignoring
| low hanging fruit.
| okareaman wrote:
| Wtf is this?: _By reading this website, you agree, on behalf of
| your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers
| arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses,
| terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap,
| confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use
| policies ( "BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your
| employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in
| perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and
| privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to
| release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer._
|
| If it's supposed to be funny, I really don't have time for it so
| I left without reading
| wizzwizz4 wrote:
| It's supposed to be satire. Not all satire is funny. (It also,
| potentially, shields the author from lawsuits.)
| edoceo wrote:
| Might even be good satire (which I think means: 50/50 funny,
| 80% offensive) and it got someone to leave - so...Well
| played?
| llimos wrote:
| Is there anything anyone can do about all this? Or is this how
| Western civilization finally ends?
| amelius wrote:
| Exploiting tax loopholes is like hacking the financial system.
| And this kind of hacking should be punishable just like black-
| hat computer hacking is.
|
| Using a system (or the law) in ways it was not intended to be
| used can be considered hacking.
| whatshisface wrote:
| That just replaces all of the accountants with lawyers.
| atlgator wrote:
| There is a huge difference between taxing capital gains (net
| profit from investment each year) and taxing capital (direct
| tax on your entire net worth). The former is an effective tool
| to tax the wealthy by adding new capital gains tax brackets.
| The latter is how Western civilization ends because you will no
| longer own anything free and clear after income taxes. The
| Government will have the ability to take your capital when and
| how they wish.
| ak217 wrote:
| That sounds histrionic because real property is already taxed
| in many states, and short of taxing wealth, the government
| can do many things to devalue your assets.
|
| Putting aside the issue of the current trajectory of
| increasing inequality and its destabilizing effects on
| national security, the obsession Americans have with owning
| things "free and clear" is a reflection of a kind of
| privilege. The US is blessed with an expansionary economy,
| stable financial system, strong rule of law, military power,
| and respect for individual rights. These all form the basis
| of this belief that private property rights are absolute.
| They are never absolute, always subject to the goodwill of
| the social contract and the laws of physics. What good is
| owning things free and clear when there is a marauding
| militia outside your Capitol, or your land lost all value
| because of the environmental damage externalities of the
| economy?
| aqme28 wrote:
| That is quite a big leap to go from "taxing capital" to
| "Western civilization ends because you will no longer own
| anything free and clear after income taxes."
|
| Can you justify that at all?
| xg15 wrote:
| If the move to subscriptions and smart devices keeps going
| like it does, you'll no longer own anything anyway.
| xg15 wrote:
| > _net profit from investment each year_
|
| Ah, so no growth, no taxes. I see what your did there.
| ajmadesc wrote:
| I mean, what it only kicks in after say $25 million?
|
| Then everyone would be able to own 25,000,000 worth of stuff
| free and clear.
| [deleted]
| edoceo wrote:
| And you could adjust yearly, don't want those multi-
| millionaires to feel too much burden. Who will creat the
| jobs!? Won't somebody think of the jobs?!?
| laserdancepony wrote:
| It's okay because I have nothing to take.
| Retric wrote:
| We already tax cars and land, it's hardly the end of
| civilization.
| pcbro141 wrote:
| Do you pay property tax?
| disposekinetics wrote:
| I feel like you're conflating civilization and government.
| tootie wrote:
| Vote.
|
| https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-12/manchin-o...
| ilaksh wrote:
| I'm pretty sure there are only two possible ways these things
| will change significantly. WWIII or AI/yogurt takeover.
| breatheoften wrote:
| I could imagine a wealth tax movement getting strong enough and
| that or the threat of it might eventually be able to change
| things ... :fingers crossed:
|
| Or maybe if the trend of folks no longer working continues for
| long enough with enough force ...
|
| The labor class has gotten screwed so severely for so long
| opting out of the labor economy is probably the most rationale
| option available for the majority of earth's human population
| ...
| brnt wrote:
| It's how Anglosaxon civilization may end, but there are Western
| alternatives with better democratic oversight, such as the
| Rhineland model. They are creaking under the strain of
| Anglosaxon propaganda though.
| api wrote:
| The culture war ensures that neither side will vote on the
| basis of economic issues, so no.
| jl2718 wrote:
| "Monetarily sovereign countries don't tax to fund their
| operations. Rather, they tax to fight inflation"
|
| Another way of putting this: we are paying the interest on their
| loans. That is, the only thing that would be different without
| taxes is higher interest rates.
|
| https://www.sifma.org/resources/research/us-treasury-securit...
| orwin wrote:
| > Another way of putting this: we are paying the interest on
| their loans.
|
| No. Most of the money (more than 90%) is issued by private
| banks, and most of that is for private companies. the taxpayers
| are paying interest on those loans.
| loosetypes wrote:
| In Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew
| Desmond, the author shows not only that there is money to be made
| renting housing to the American lower class, but also that it is
| in fact more profitable than renting to their more economically
| well off counterparts.
|
| This is not because they have more money to part with but because
| they can be squeezed harder.
|
| The wider concept seemed counterintuitive to me at first but I
| see various implementations abound in the wild the harder I look.
| This article shows one example.
| [deleted]
| rcurry wrote:
| He cut that corner pasture into acre lots,
|
| He sells 'em owner-financed strictly to them that's got no kind
| of credit,
|
| 'cause he knows they're slackers and they'll miss that payment,
|
| then he takes it back.
|
| - From Choctaw Bingo, by James McMurty.
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(page generated 2021-06-19 23:01 UTC)