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Aren't these deductions built into the tax code? They are there to take advantage of and these people are using them. As long as they are not doing illegal and

Aren't these deductions built into the tax code? They are there to take advantage of and these people are using them. As long as they are not doing illegal and shady things like it was claimed about a recent popular figure, I don't see anything wrong with it. Would anyone not deduct their children's day care work because it's not fair to people below them in the economic ladder? We can have a conversation about whether all those deductions are fair or not but saying they are taking advantage of the system purposely built for them is unnecessary. There is no political will to change the tax code and may be these kind of perverse arguments will finally change the landscape and give our cowardly politicians the push they need.

ModernMech 5y ago
> Aren't these deductions built into the tax code? They are there to take advantage of and these people are using them. There is no political will to change the tax code You have to ask yourself: how did these deductions get into the tax code in the first place, and why is there no political will to change it? I mean, they didn't just appear there. So who put them there and why? The tax code was just changed in 2017. There was plenty of political will to pass a $2T tax bill that sent 80% of the benefits to the wealthiest Americans and corporations. That happened. It included all kinds of benefits for the wealthy, including lowering the estate tax and corporate tax rate. The corporate tax cuts were permanent, while the individual tax cuts we all got will expire soon. If Congress can do that, isn't there any political will to allow me to deduct my children's day care? If I had a billion dollars, I'd send a pack of lobbyists to DC just like AT&T and maybe they could muster up some "political will" to change the tax code too. In short, when the wealthiest Americans use their wealth to leverage Congress to perpetuate their wealth, it's not enough to say "Well, what they're doing is 100% legal, so I guess there's nothing shady and illegal going on here." If "legal" just means "whatever money can buy", then what's even the point of law?
- yalogin 5y ago
  You are right. I was coming to the same conclusion myself towards the end of my comment above.

ModernMech 5y ago

> Aren't these deductions built into the tax code? They are there to take advantage of and these people are using them. There is no political will to change the tax code You have to ask yourself: how did these deductions get into the tax code in the first place, and why is there no political will to change it? I mean, they didn't just appear there. So who put them there and why? The tax code was just changed in 2017. There was plenty of political will to pass a $2T tax bill that sent 80% of the benefits to the wealthiest Americans and corporations. That happened. It included all kinds of benefits for the wealthy, including lowering the estate tax and corporate tax rate. The corporate tax cuts were permanent, while the individual tax cuts we all got will expire soon. If Congress can do that, isn't there any political will to allow me to deduct my children's day care? If I had a billion dollars, I'd send a pack of lobbyists to DC just like AT&T and maybe they could muster up some "political will" to change the tax code too. In short, when the wealthiest Americans use their wealth to leverage Congress to perpetuate their wealth, it's not enough to say "Well, what they're doing is 100% legal, so I guess there's nothing shady and illegal going on here." If "legal" just means "whatever money can buy", then what's even the point of law?

yalogin 5y ago
You are right. I was coming to the same conclusion myself towards the end of my comment above.