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If there were political will to tax the rich then you'd have to, in addition to changing tax law (obviously), fund IRS investigations to ensure the taxes are ac
by idle_zealot 2y ago
If there were political will to tax the rich then you'd have to, in addition to changing tax law (obviously), fund IRS investigations to ensure the taxes are actually collected. Throwing up your arms and saying "well we can't tax the rich, they're too powerful and wily, and will easily commit tax fraud to evade those taxes, and in actuality you'll bring in less money" is exactly the weak attitude that stalls efforts to fund vital services. If you think people will commit tax evasion, then put more resources into investigating tax evasion. Historically, money spent recovering taxes has yielded more than the cost of said investigations.
- CrossVR 2y ago> Throwing up your arms and saying "well we can't tax the rich, they're too powerful and wily, and will easily commit tax fraud to evade those taxes, and in actuality you'll bring in less money" is exactly the weak attitude that stalls efforts to fund vital services. It goes further than that, it is the exact argument made by wealthy people as to why we shouldn't tax them more aggressively. Parroting that argument is ludicrous unless you're considerably wealthy yourself.
- mrjin 2y agoThose loopholes were by design, complicated enough to prevent most people like us to take advantage of it but will allow those who can afford to evade lots. I'm not sure if people is just naive or playing dumb.
- bloppe 2y agoIf only there were some way to change a tax code... Alas, no country has ever figured out how to do that!
- johnnyanmac 2y agoWe have a way... oh, they have spent 20 years in gridlock arguing over political lines. And the Rich apparently won given the current proposal.
- thfuran 2y agoAnd evil if you are.
- mrjin 2y agoMy point was that Tax Laws were deliberately complicated to allow some people to evade taxes. If you put that into consideration, you will find it's a lot easier to understand the status quo. Again, what you think or what I think do not matter after all.
- johnnyanmac 2y agoIt matters completely. Congress makes and changnes tax codes, people vote in congress. People need to remember they are the ones being served and they are in control. Absolving themselves of their representative's choices is the start of the downfall of the system.
- mrjin 2y agoIt should matter, but it actually doesn't matter as much as you thought as there is a level of indirection. Just look back to the promises made before the election, how many were never fulfilled?
- hello_moto 2y agoThis is because we continuously being divided with lesser pressing issues: abortion, same-sex, universal toilet, etc. The left or right are the same side of the coins that the rich will support no matter what. They shun people like Bernie Sanders, Picketty, etc. In USA, social programs = socialists = commie. That's how bad the brainwashing is.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mrjin 2y agoThere is a level of indirection as it should. But that indirection also adds distortions.
- benterix 2y agoIt is extremely difficult because you not only need to do it on a per-country level, but globally. Otherwise you just punish foreign companies that genuinely invest in a country with stricter tax laws (and most will just choose another country, just like it's happening in Europe). And ultimately, it depends on the will of the American administration - and they can be extremely bullish about imposing their laws on smaller countries, sometimes even using their military advantage.
- ashoeafoot 2y agoThe world is degloballuzing rapidly and yiu really can not anything in a dictatorship or oligarchy. Look at those falling out of favour in Russia .
- wood_spirit 2y agos/favour/windows/g
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- MeteorMarc 2y agoAs long as political campaigns are funded by the rich, there will be no political will to tax the rich.
- photonthug 2y ago> fund IRS investigations to ensure the taxes are actually collected. Even people who want to tax the rich are skeptical about empowering / funding the IRS because there are many studies showing that the IRS disproportionately audits the poor. If that’s true, then why would more funding help new enforcement against the rich rather than multiplying the current problem? Generally cash/support fixes material resource issues but cannot fix policy issues
- ianburrell 2y agoIRS enforces against the poor because it is easier and they have been directed that way. It is possible to increase enforcement, direct where that enforcement goes, and change the law so that it is easier to enforce against the rich. Another would be simplify the law for to make audits for poor unnecessary and leave rich fewer places to hide. We have gotten used to Congress being dysfunctional and not passing laws that we think the current laws are some unchangeable state.
- photonthug 2y agoSounds like we agree then that it’s important to change policy first before dumping more resources on a malfunctioning org and hoping for the best. But parent mentions “funding investigations” as a cure.. my point is just that there’s no indication that this makes things better, and might actually make them worse.
- mkatx 2y agoI do agree that changing policy is a separate, yet complimentary, step. But maybe the poor are disproportionately audited because the IRS doesn't have the funding to effectively target the rich and succeed? Maybe with better funding, they could successfully extract more tax dollars from the rich, incearsing the ROI of funding the agency? I don't think further funding the agency is a completely nutty idea. Although if you truly believe the agency is broken, and that being broken isn't related to their funding, then I could understand your perspective. I lean more towards the idea that at least some, maybe even most, of the issues they have might be due to a lack of funding. That makes more sense to me than most of the criticisms I've heard of the IRS, which seem to mostly be on partisan idealism framed as otherwise.