4 ms·
> I've often wished a test city/state would be allowed to just do a flat tax I don't want a flat tax (as in "all income taxed at 15%," let's say) because a fla
by techsupporter 9y ago
> I've often wished a test city/state would be allowed to just do a flat tax
I don't want a flat tax (as in "all income taxed at 15%," let's say) because a flat tax has an unfair impact on people at lower income levels. But, otherwise, I agree with your entire post. Here's my ideal law, with the caveat that I have zero legal training beyond six seasons of Law and Order and four seasons of Suits:
(1) The following marginal rates are established:
(Emphasis here: these numbers are made up for demonstration purposes only.)
- $0 through $13,000: 0%
- $13,001 through $25,000: 5%
- $25,001 through $46,000: 8%
- and so on
(2) All money earned, by whatever means and from whatever source, by a person or legal entity resident in the United States shall be subject to the tax specified above.
(3) The Internal Revenue Service shall, no later than the 15th of April of each calendar year (or the next day following the business day after the 15th of April if the 15th of April falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday), prepare and mail to each holder of an EIN, each person for whom any tax or income declaration form (such as W2, 1098, 1099, and similar) has been submitted to the IRS, a statement of what the IRS believes the taxpayer owes or is due as a refund.
(4) If the IRS has notified the taxpayer that the IRS believes the taxpayer is due a refund, the taxpayer may notify the IRS of a financial account located inside the United States into which such refund shall be deposited or may request a paper check for such refund or, under such rules as the Secretary shall provide, make a request for United States Savings Bonds. Any request must be made within five years of the date the taxpayer knew or reasonably should have known that the refund was due, otherwise the refund is the property of the Treasury absent a showing of exigence.
(5) If the IRS has notified the taxpayer that the IRS believes the taxpayer owes additional taxes, the taxpayer shall make payment to the IRS no later than the 15th of July following receipt of said notice (or the next day following the business day after the 15th of July if the 15th of July falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday) by providing the IRS with debit instructions for a financial account located inside the United States or via a paper check or other form of transfer of dollars.
(6) In the case that the taxpayer disagrees with a notice provided by the IRS under paragraphs 5 or 6, the taxpayer shall, no later than the 15th of July following receipt of said notice (or the next day following the business day after the 15th of July if the 15th of July falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday), file the tax forms designated by the IRS under such rules as the Secretary shall provide, to indicate what the taxpayer believes is the proper tax due or refund owed. If the taxpayer still owes additional tax, the tax payment shall be due at the time of filing. The IRS shall have 120 days to respond, otherwise the taxpayer's submission is deemed valid and binding upon the IRS.
(7) There is no paragraph seven.
- wbl 9y agoDefine earned.
- chii 9y agoAny money, cash, or equivalent, that you are in posession of at time T, that you did not have possession of at time T-1.
- wbl 9y agoSo the problem with this is if I spot you a buck at the subway because you are short, you have to remember and report this. That's what the gift exemption is for in current code. Then let's not get into Rabbi trusts and all sorts of other complexities related to when something is earned.
- curun1r 9y agoWhat does equivalent mean? Is BitCoin an equivalent? Stocks? Real Estate? Food? An Education? Do like-kind exchanges count as income? What about non-like-kind exchanges? (i.e. what if you sell real estate and buy stocks?) What about barter? If I trade my property or time for someone else's property or time without it ever being denominated in "money, cash or equivalent," is that taxable? From the recent controversy, does a graduate school education have a taxable value when it's offset by work the graduate student does for the University? What about inherited wealth? Does an inheritance count as income? From one perspective, at T-1, you didn't have it and at T you did. But from the family unit perspective, nothing changed. If someone's spouse dies, since their 50% ownership of communal property just increased to 100%, is that taxable? If not, how is that really different than leaving wealth to children or extended family? What about expatriates? If someone lives in France, earns money in France and pays French taxes, do they pay US taxes too? What if they work part time in France and part time in the US...does that earn them the lower marginal rate in both countries despite earning a much more comfortable living? These kinds of overly-simplistic tax plans always seem to breakdown in accounting for situations that happen in the real world. And once all the necessary questions have been asked and the answers incorporated into the tax code, it's not that much simpler than what we currently have. Yes...the tax code is an overly-complex maze of crap that tends to benefit those with the best team of CPAs. But we're better off fixing that without throwing out the entire thing and starting from scratch.