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It's much easier to tax the poor, but you don't get anything. Marginal/progressive tax systems exist for a reason. The problem is rich people can afford to lobb
by coldcode 7y ago
It's much easier to tax the poor, but you don't get anything. Marginal/progressive tax systems exist for a reason. The problem is rich people can afford to lobby (buy) politicians to make their taxes go away, which is why the IRS is continuously starved for budget. The IRS admits it cannot afford to audit wealthy people because it requires a lot of people and effort, so auditing poor and middle class people is the best they can do. Seems like the first thing would be to beef up the IRS budget.
- metalliqaz 7y agoincreasing the IRS budget wouldn't cost money but would make money from tax cheats. political opposition to this has always been the most clear demonstration that congress is in the pockets of wealthy donors, in my opinion.
- wmeredith 7y agoI totally agree. In its current state the IRS makes $4 for every $1 in its budget.
- simonsarris 7y agoWhy is that impressive? Those two numbers in a vacuum tell us nothing at all. Why isn't the IRS making $50 for every $1 in their budget? Suppose we cut their budget by 50%, it's possible they've just been wasting money and now they'd make $8 for every $1 in their budget. Great! Suppose we double their budget. If they don't do anything differently they'll make only $2 for every $1 in their budget. etc etc. There must be some component of their budget that is the part of the IRS that goes after potentially fraudulent tax returns, and presumably increasing or decreasing it will have a yield effect, but your figures have zero to suggest what that is or where the point of diminishing returns may be. Broadly speaking, context-free numbers that don't actually imply anything (maybe more to the point cannot imply anything without more information) should be viewed with suspicion. :/
- metalliqaz 7y agowat more revenue from better enforcement is not only logical, it has been the conclusion of several reports from various agencies. the suggestion of twofold increase in revenue collection from half the budget is a farce.
- simonsarris 7y agoOkay, but he didn't point to any reports from any agencies. He gave a stat that by itself backs no position on anything.
- devicetray0 7y agoI don't have the kind of wealth that you're talking about, but after earning a high salary, I started using an accountant and somehow they managed to turn my tax return into >100 pages. As someone who used to do their own taxes, it's difficult for me to read. I can't imagine how complicated a billionaire's tax returns are with an army of accountants.
- aries1980 7y agoWhy don't they tax on purchase then? A differentiated sales tax based on the necessity of the item.