4 ms·

They never caught Trump for tax evasion because he does what all rich people do: hires the top lawyers and accountants to handle it. If they could bust Trump th

by fwungy 4y ago

They never caught Trump for tax evasion because he does what all rich people do: hires the top lawyers and accountants to handle it. If they could bust Trump they could bust the rest of them. The whole tax code is a legal maze to protect the wealthy and keep the middle class down. That's why it can't be simple. There is no place to hide ulterior motives in simple.

pessimizer 4y ago
That has nothing to do with e-file, though, or even pre-file, where they just send you the total and you can choose to pay it or file the hard way. It has nothing to do with the tax code being simple. It does have to do with class, because paying to file taxes a good way to separate innumerate broke people from a day's pay, every year.
Turing_Machine 4y ago
If you do it aboveboard using lawyers and accountants to minimize the amount of tax you owe, it's tax avoidance. Legal as church on Sunday. Tax evasion, on the other hand, is a crime. That only comes into play when you commit some manner of fraud to get out of taxes. Difference between the two: 1) You get $4,000,000 from (complicated but legal business deal) and report it on your return. Your lawyers and accountants successfully argue that due to subparagraph q of the Arglebargle Business WhangoZango Act of 1919, originally designed to allow orphanages to deduct the cost of gruel, this money is not subject to taxes (or gets taxed at a lower rate, or whatever). That's tax avoidance -- perfectly legal -- and that's why people like Trump, the Pelosis, the Kennedy family, the Zuckerbergs, the Kochs, the Heinz-Kerrys...pay accountants and lawyers big bucks. 2) You get $4,000,000 from your meth business and don't report it at all, having failed to take your attorney Saul Goodman's advice on how to launder it. That's tax evasion, and that's what gets you sent to PMITAFP.

by fwungy 4y ago

pessimizer 4y ago

That has nothing to do with e-file, though, or even pre-file, where they just send you the total and you can choose to pay it or file the hard way. It has nothing to do with the tax code being simple. It does have to do with class, because paying to file taxes a good way to separate innumerate broke people from a day's pay, every year.

Turing_Machine 4y ago

If you do it aboveboard using lawyers and accountants to minimize the amount of tax you owe, it's tax avoidance. Legal as church on Sunday. Tax evasion, on the other hand, is a crime. That only comes into play when you commit some manner of fraud to get out of taxes. Difference between the two: 1) You get $4,000,000 from (complicated but legal business deal) and report it on your return. Your lawyers and accountants successfully argue that due to subparagraph q of the Arglebargle Business WhangoZango Act of 1919, originally designed to allow orphanages to deduct the cost of gruel, this money is not subject to taxes (or gets taxed at a lower rate, or whatever). That's tax avoidance -- perfectly legal -- and that's why people like Trump, the Pelosis, the Kennedy family, the Zuckerbergs, the Kochs, the Heinz-Kerrys...pay accountants and lawyers big bucks. 2) You get $4,000,000 from your meth business and don't report it at all, having failed to take your attorney Saul Goodman's advice on how to launder it. That's tax evasion, and that's what gets you sent to PMITAFP.