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I get this, and also that it's to help prevent the sticker shock of taxes that can lead to serious backlash. With that said, America is not supposed to be a pl

by mises 8y ago

I get this, and also that it's to help prevent the sticker shock of taxes that can lead to serious backlash. With that said, America is not supposed to be a place where the Nanny State must step in to manage people's lives for them simply because they can't do it themselves. I and my fellow citizens should not have to lose money simply because others choose to waste money. I like the comment lotsofpulp made below: "The solution to people’s inability to save is not for the government to hold their money hostage."

war1025 8y ago
The government doesn't hold anyone's money hostage. You are free to adjust your W-4 withholdings any time you want. They even have an online calculator to estimate your tax burden and set your withholding properly.
- mises 8y ago
  Yes they do, because there is still employer withholding. Almost 75% of Americans had too much withheld: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/30-million-americans-are-not-withholding-enough-pay-for-taxes.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/30-million-americans-are-not... And if you don't believe me on the reducing-sticker-shock part, here's a quote from the Treasury: "it... greatly reduced the taxpayer's awareness of the amount of tax being collected, i.e. it reduced the transparency of the tax, which made it easier to raise taxes in the future." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_withholding_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_withholding_in_the_United_... It is indeed a very underhanded way to con citizens into putting up with stupidly high taxes. Oh, and for what it's worth, it hits lower incomes harder because they are less likely to hire tax advisors, fancy accountants, etc. to make sense of it all for them. Maybe we would end up with lower taxes on our poorest, too, if they realized how much they were being robbed.
  - war1025 8y ago
    For the record, I make good income for the area, which isn't amazing, and also have three kids. I had no federal tax burden this year and was in fact reimbursed $1800 of surplus child tax credit. So I find it hard to believe the poor are paying too much in taxes if they are anywhere near the same boat as me.

by mises 8y ago

war1025 8y ago

The government doesn't hold anyone's money hostage. You are free to adjust your W-4 withholdings any time you want. They even have an online calculator to estimate your tax burden and set your withholding properly.

mises 8y ago
Yes they do, because there is still employer withholding. Almost 75% of Americans had too much withheld: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/30-million-americans-are-not-withholding-enough-pay-for-taxes.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/30-million-americans-are-not... And if you don't believe me on the reducing-sticker-shock part, here's a quote from the Treasury: "it... greatly reduced the taxpayer's awareness of the amount of tax being collected, i.e. it reduced the transparency of the tax, which made it easier to raise taxes in the future." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_withholding_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_withholding_in_the_United_... It is indeed a very underhanded way to con citizens into putting up with stupidly high taxes. Oh, and for what it's worth, it hits lower incomes harder because they are less likely to hire tax advisors, fancy accountants, etc. to make sense of it all for them. Maybe we would end up with lower taxes on our poorest, too, if they realized how much they were being robbed.
- war1025 8y ago
  For the record, I make good income for the area, which isn't amazing, and also have three kids. I had no federal tax burden this year and was in fact reimbursed $1800 of surplus child tax credit. So I find it hard to believe the poor are paying too much in taxes if they are anywhere near the same boat as me.