quote:Originally posted by Chuck:
Art, there are only 433,000 people making $1,000,000 or more per year in the US in 2011 (321,000 in 2008). This is income that is taxed not net worth which isn't taxed, earnings are taxed. A National Sales Tax is NOT a fair tax as it inordinately places a heavier burden on Middle Income and below since they spend all they make. Wealthy families (say $1,000,000) don't spend 20 times what a family making $50,000 spends. If we'd simply use the taxes rates in effect during Ronald Reagan's first term and close up the graft and corruption of tax cheats (make them HURT) and base Corporate taxes on revenues received BEFORE expenses we could capture quite a bit of "hidden" profits and taxes that individuals should be willing to pay.
Chuck, by tax cheats I hope you mean people are not paying taxes according to the law and not those paying taxes according to the current law. I would disagree with taxing companies based on revenue and not taking into account expenses. What happens when profits fall and companies struggle, like they are now? This will make matters worse and companies will be forced to cut even more jobs just to pay the tax bill. Furthermore, taxing companies is actually taxing the poor. If we increase taxes on say "big oil", a popular target of the left. What is big oil going to do? They will pass that increase on to the wholesalers. The wholesalers will pass that cost onto the retailers. The retailers will pass that cost onto the consumer. This will result in gas, heating oil, anything delivered viz a truck costing more. This results in taking more money from the consumer. This hurts the middle class and the poor more than it will hurt the wealthy. There are a lot of struggling middle class and poor familes. Increasing thier fuel costs, fuel costs and the cost of all sorts of other items will hurt them. A law of business is that they will always pass increased costs onto the next level down. That is unless you go totally communist and start controlling what business can charge for something.