Guaranteed it happens at least once a year. When I start complaining about the amount my wife and I pay in taxes someone tells me to just shut up and "pay my fair share"; and nothing is more infuriating. When people say this it shows at least one, if not more, of the following. Either they can't do math, which given the current state of our government-run education system is completely believable; they keep themselves blissfully ignorant and just believe what some politicians tell them, a major problem in and of itself; or they have no concept of what the word "fair" actually means and are just interested in supporting their own misguided perceptions rather than find the truth
Simple math
Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. We live in a country that, for some reason, uses a tiered tax system, meaning that the more money you make the more you have to pay out. On its face, that system sounds correct and is hard to argue, but that's not actually what's happening. When someone makes twice as much as you, and they pay double the tax rate you do, that's not them paying twice as much in taxes as you... that's them paying FOUR TIMES the amount you are. Let's do an example with simple numbers. Say you make $50k with a tax rate of 10%, and someone else makes $100k with a tax rate of 20%.
$50,000 x 10% = $5,000$100,000 x 20% = $20,000
20,000 / 5,000 = 4
Now let's try that using the same 10% tax rate for both incomes.
$50,000 x 10% = $5,000
$100,000 x 10% = $10,000
10,000 / 5,000 = 2
So there it is, plain and simple; doubling the tax rate does not double the taxes someone pays, it quadruples it. And to my last point above, that is not "fair". This is my biggest problem with the current United States tax system, it unjustly punishes those that work hard and make more money. But what about the millionaires who, even adjusting for a fair tax rate, still get out of paying their fair share. Well, that brings me to my second point...
Identifying the Problem
The reason most business owners, millionaires, and "evil corporations" don't pay their fair share isn't that their tax rates are too low; it's because they take advantage of all the special deductions and legal loopholes created by the politicians they donate money towards to get elected. And that's how they get you. Politicians love to point out that the top earners in this country don't pay the full amount owed according to the unfair tiers, then tell you that those people don't pay their "fair share" in order to get you angry so you'll vote for them to fix it, or vote against any of their rivals that say otherwise. Yes, you're being manipulated for political gain. Get over it, learn from your mistakes, and move on.
Not only are these politicians giving you a distorted view of the facts to push their own agenda, they are conveniently leaving out the other side of their voting record. Because even if they do go and raise taxes on "only the wealthy", they then vote in other deductions and loopholes for their campaign sponsors because they know that not only do they need the donations, but once their political career is over they are hired by these big corporations as guest speakers, or as a glorified spokesmen that collect a paycheck just for having their face and their name used in conjunction with that company. And that's why they will continue to hide behind these tricks and tactics that will maintain since most of this country will unfortunately not read these, and many of those who do will either not understand it, or write it off based purely on those political delusions they are desperately clinging on to; rather than truly address the issue.
Solving the Problem
Unlike most political problems, if you're willing to place personal feelings and vendettas aside, there is a single answer. It's not to raise tax rates on anyone, in fact, it's much more simple than that and solves a couple problems. While brilliant in its simplicity, there are multiple steps involved. And here they are -
- Set a single tax rate - no more tiered taxes. No more different rates for different incomes. A single percentage rate for everyone living in the United States. Again, in it's purest definition, this is "fair".
- Eliminate all deductions - Let's get rid of all those deductions and loopholes that the powerful leverage to avoid paying. But don't stop there, get rid of ALL deductions. It's not the government's business if you're married or have kids, and those things shouldn't make a difference. You're still an American that is of voting age, and as such you need to pay.
- Change how taxes are collected - This step has a few options.
- If everyone is paying the same tax rate, and it's based on your income, then once those taxes are automatically deducted from your paycheck you're done. There is no more need to file a return, no need for the April 15th deadline, no overly complicated tax code, and no need for the IRS. Tax dodgers would simply be anyone that is paid "under the table", so the local or federal police could claim jurisdiction and arrest those accepting that undocumented pay and arrest or fine the ones paying them that way as well.
- To make it even easier and avoid the problem of tax dodgers all together, move to a consumption-based tax. When you make more money, you spend more money. You buy huge mansions, vacation homes, multiple cars, custom built furniture and decorations, you eat out at fine restaurants more often, and come off with other more exotic ways to show off your wealth to your rich friends. Conversely, and this makes total sense, if you make less money you spend less money. So instead of taxing people based on income, tax the outgoing. Sure that means an immediate price hike on literally everything you buy now, but without having any deductions in your paycheck your income raises to match. This eliminates the issue of tax dodgers, because regardless of you being a documented worker, or if your company officially recognizes you as an employee "on the books", as long as you spend money here you pay your taxes. Even illegal aliens that pay rent and buy food here would pay taxes. This solution eliminates the IRS and everything else that the first option does, as well as solving illegal immigrants "stealing" things like healthcare, welfare, or any other government programs they may take advantage of. If they live here, they're paying taxes here, whether they're illegals, documented visitors, or natural citizens.
Now stop falling for these smokescreens that only hurt you or your friends and family, and actually solve the problem at hand.
Those are some really genuine problems which you have highlighted. I totally agree with your solutions as well.Great post. Loved reading it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective. I enjoyed the read.
ReplyDeleteI'm not American but I also enjoyed your post.
ReplyDelete