Once again, the Rich Pay No Taxes

[Phil1111 905]

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

The ProPublica Revelations Show Why We Need to Tax Wealth More Effectively  How Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, and other American billionaires have gamed the system. (Same story from New Yorker)

So The GOP is shown once again that they love the stupid, the poor and the middle class. Because they can game the system successfully.Then pay next to nothing for it.

[NewGuy2005 51]

Our politicians will get this fixed right away.  Don't worry.

[BIGUN 1,042]

1 hour ago, Phil1111 said:

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

The ProPublica Revelations Show Why We Need to Tax Wealth More Effectively  How Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, and other American billionaires have gamed the system. (Same story from New Yorker)

So The GOP is shown once again that they love the stupid, the poor and the middle class. Because they can game the system successfully. Then pay next to nothing for it.

This posed a question for me. Everyone in the list is Democrat - why slam the GOP. Just how many Billionaires are Democrats?

 Found this interesting article: Most billionaires aren't voting GOP. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2020/10/20/even-americas-billionaires-are-tilting-toward-biden-in-the-2020-presidential-race/?sh=7378f1552bb7

[Phil1111 905]

8 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

This posed a question for me. Everyone in the list is Democrat - why slam the GOP. Just how many Billionaires are Democrats?

 Found this interesting article: Most billionaires aren't voting GOP. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2020/10/20/even-americas-billionaires-are-tilting-toward-biden-in-the-2020-presidential-race/?sh=7378f1552bb7

The US tax code is filled with special interest deductions. Most were introduced by the GOP. The GOP recently passed a massive tax reduction bill. Yet never dealt with the deductions/loopholes for the very rich. For the middle class the recently introduced deductions have sunset clauses.

The code is not written for billionaires in general. Its written to benefit the very wealthy.

In general democrats suggest higher taxes on the wealthy. The graph shows that has little traction in the US. The GINI index(world rankings here, scroll down ) indicates income inequality.

The US, China and Russia are neck and neck.

[gowlerk 1,901]

23 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

Everyone in the list is Democrat - why slam the GOP.

Because the GOP is more likely to make rules that favour the wealthy.  Their way of thinking is against progressive taxation systems. By progressive I mean higher rates as you progress up the income scale. You can make real arguments that their ideas a fairer. But it begins to break down when income from sources other than work are taxed at even lower rates. You guys must have your nearly trillion dollar military machine, and someone has to pay for it. As long as big donors don't have to, politicians of both parties get to dine in fine style.

Edited June 9, 2021 by gowlerk

[SkyDekker 1,120]

2 hours ago, BIGUN said:

Found this interesting article: Most billionaires aren't voting GOP. 

Correction, most billionaires are republican, but didn't like Trump.

[BIGUN 1,042]

2 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

In general democrats suggest higher taxes on the wealthy.

I'm not arguing with you, or Ken, or even Sky . . . Phase of exploration. I find it interesting. On a similar note; even during the Reagan era, I was a bit baffled as to why they _did not_ tie the supposed trickle down to penalties if that money was not re-invested back in jobs, capital expenses, etc. 

[BIGUN 1,042]

2 hours ago, gowlerk said:

But it begins to break down when income from sources other than work are taxed at even lower rates.

We do have unearned income tax - the issue is the people who can afford an Army of tax folks can figure out how to divert that tax. The only recourse is going to be a flat tax and there's arguments for both sides of that. 

[GeorgiaDon 340]

17 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

The only recourse is going to be a flat tax and there's arguments for both sides of that. 

I disagree.  A minimum tax could work.

Don

[SkyDekker 1,120]

1 hour ago, BIGUN said:

n a similar note; even during the Reagan era, I was a bit baffled as to why they _did not_ tie the supposed trickle down to penalties if that money was not re-invested back in jobs, capital expenses, etc.

Because trickle down was the sales pitch, not the actual purpose.

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

58 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

I'm not arguing with you, or Ken, or even Sky . . . Phase of exploration. I find it interesting. On a similar note; even during the Reagan era, I was a bit baffled as to why they _did not_ tie the supposed trickle down to penalties if that money was not re-invested back in jobs, capital expenses, etc. 

Hi Keith,

Re:  the supposed trickle down

And, some people ( including GHW Bush *) called it Voodoo Economics.

Jerry Baumchen

* That is until he got the V-P nod; then, he embraced it.  That is one thing I always held against him.

PS)  IMO the GOP is not creating legislation to keep the wealthy, wealthy.  They are stopping all Demo efforts to change anything.  The exception being the so-called 'Trump Tax Bill.'

[gowlerk 1,901]

13 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

Because trickle down was the sales pitch, not the actual purpose.

Exactly.

[JoeWeber 2,294]

4 hours ago, gowlerk said:

You guys must have your nearly trillion dollar military machine, and someone has to pay for it.

Yes, and the payers are Americans. We could drop down to USD $22.8 Billion as some western democracies do, but then we all might need to start working on our Mandarin. 

[GeorgiaDon 340]

1 hour ago, SkyDekker said:

Because trickle down was the sales pitch, not the actual purpose.

In part, it had to do with "shrink government to a size where you can drown it in a bathtub".

Deeper, and more insidious than that, it goes back to white people not wanting to pay taxes to provide services to freed slaves.  Boston historian Heather Cox Richardson writes about this from time to time on her blog/newsletter.

And yes (before someone brings this up), this was the policy of the Democrats when they were dominated by Southern politics and the Dixiecrats, before the Democratic and Republican parties traded souls around the time Republicans went all in on the Southern Strategy.  Hard to believe that at one time the Republicans were the party of civil rights.  Also hard to believe they have become the New American Fascist Party, but there you go.

 

Don

[BIGUN 1,042]

10 minutes ago, GeorgiaDon said:

this was the policy of the Democrats when they were dominated by Southern politics and the Dixiecrats, before the Democratic and Republican parties traded souls around the time Republicans went all in on the Southern Strategy.  Hard to believe that at one time the Republicans were the party of civil rights.

I blame Johnson. :)

[GeorgiaDon 340]

1 minute ago, BIGUN said:

I blame Johnson. :)

Yep, he knew he was throwing away the South.  But he thought it would just be for a generation.  Little did he suspect...

Don

[gowlerk 1,901]

45 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Yes, and the payers are Americans. We could drop down to USD $22.8 Billion as some western democracies do, but then we all might need to start working on our Mandarin. 

Yea, you have to have some way to justify it. Next thing you know dominos would start to fall. 

[JoeWeber 2,294]

1 hour ago, gowlerk said:

Yea, you have to have some way to justify it. Next thing you know dominos would start to fall. 

We have a right handy way to justify it: somebody has to be willing to pay the full price and a quick check of the Democracies of the World organizational chart reveals that we only got one somebody.

[gowlerk 1,901]

42 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

We have a right handy way to justify it: somebody has to be willing to pay the full price and a quick check of the Democracies of the World organizational chart reveals that we only got one somebody.

The rest of the world more or less just thinks of you as the trespassing neighbour who wants to control everything. I mean really, where would we be without all the treasure and lives you sent to Iraq? Oh yeah, the same place we are now, except a different set of oppressive crooks. Apparently you only learned part of the lessons the Vietnam adventure should have taught you. America does nothing for the benefit of the rest of the world. America does what it erroneously thinks is best for America. It always has, it always will, and it always should. The view must be nice for you up on that high horse!

Edited June 9, 2021 by gowlerk

[kallend 1,619]

On 6/9/2021 at 7:13 AM, Phil1111 said:

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

The ProPublica Revelations Show Why We Need to Tax Wealth More Effectively  How Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, and other American billionaires have gamed the system. (Same story from New Yorker)

So The GOP is shown once again that they love the stupid, the poor and the middle class. Because they can game the system successfully.Then pay next to nothing for it.

More rot at the core of our society:

https://www.propublica.org/article/earned-income-tax-credit-irs-audit-working-poor

 

If you claim the earned income tax credit, whose average recipient makes less than $20,000 a year, you’re more likely to face IRS scrutiny than someone making twenty times as much.

[kallend 1,619]

And more rot:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/business/dealbook/private-equity-taxes.html

 

The $4.5 trillion buyout industry “has perfected sleight-of-hand tax-avoidance strategies so aggressive that at least three private equity officials have alerted the Internal Revenue Service to potentially illegal tactics,” according to a new investigation by The Times. These previously unreported whistle-blower claims involved dozens of private equity firms, Jesse Drucker and Danny Hakim report.

 

I.R.S. audits of private equity firms are “almost nonexistent,” said Michael Desmond, who stepped down this year as the I.R.S.’s chief counsel. The Times reviewed 10 years of annual reports filed by the five largest publicly traded private equity firms, which contained no sign of the firms ever having to pay the I.R.S. extra money.

[wolfriverjoe 1,339]

Turns out Leona Helmsley was right.

She was just dumb enough to brag about it.

 

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

3 hours ago, kallend said:

More rot at the core of our society:

https://www.propublica.org/article/earned-income-tax-credit-irs-audit-working-poor

 

If you claim the earned income tax credit, whose average recipient makes less than $20,000 a year, you’re more likely to face IRS scrutiny than someone making twenty times as much.

Hi John,

They go after the low hanging fruit that does not have the financial capability to fight them.

Jerry Baumchen