Winners and Losers in the Tax Bill

[Old plug]

Phil Yes thy are awful if they get on yout tail.  I used to supervise a small unit that provided support sevices to IRS agents. You might wonder what the IRS would want with  your familys Military records,but  they went thru them very thoughly. I am still not sure what they wanted but I know there they are as slippery as a snake if they get a tip on a person. They will go nto person place of buiness and befriend them. then when they spll the beans the sky will fall in on them. people around here tend to have loose lips to much. they will slap fines  unpaid tax estament going back years plus interest on them.

Not to worry though if you ever git called for audit. I did one time and they were questioning a deduction. We knew we were right. We explained the reason for our deduction to the agent in the office and all the agent said was"I see. Is that how that works?" And that was that.  

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I don't have much as far as income is concerned.  I have 3 kids and two working adults. We mortgage our house and have a vehicle payment.  I own an insurance agency,  and do not file for everything that I could to minimize taxes.  I do a lot of driving and have for the 12 years that I have owned it.  I do not take mileage deduction.   It is to much to keep track of in my opinion.  I don't mind paying taxes.  I love the roads that I have access to, and could not afford to maintain them with the little amount that I pay.  Not to mention the public schools and services that my family uses.   I do like the idea of flat tax and that is it.  No property tax, sales tax, estate tax, gas tax, cell phone tax...etc. 

[Al Agnew]

Nobody really LIKES to pay taxes, but that's how things work.  If you're going to have a government that does things, they need money.  The question then becomes, what is fair as possible for everybody?  And you just can't get there.  Flat tax?  Sounds fair, but then you have people like me, who are very much unlike the average wage earner who gets a paycheck and that's pretty much what he makes.  Any deductions he has is for things that the government has deemed worthy of deductions, like having kids.  But I have a whole pile of expenses and upkeep and deductions for things like mileage and entertainment of clients, so depending upon how many of those expenses and deductions are allowed, I could show a net income that would vary widely.  So I may or may not be paying the true same percentage of flat tax as the wage earner getting a paycheck.

I agree that everybody should have skin in the game.  If you earn money, you pay income tax.  But even that 47% who doesn't pay income tax still pays a lot of other taxes, Social Security, etc., so it's not like they are getting a free pass.

I go back and forth on abolishing the income tax and paying a sales or consumption tax.  I've seen widely varying guesses on how much of a percentage a national sales tax would have to be to bring a comparable amount of money into government coffers as the income tax does now.  And I know all the objections that it hits lower income people hardest, or that there would be a lot of underground sales activity.  But for me it would be heaven, since I'd never have to do all the paperwork (or pay my accountant to do it) that I have all these years.

But heck, I'm semi-retired now.  There ain't as much paperwork as there used to be.

[Quillback]

Biggest loser IMO is the budget.  Last I heard this bill adds another $ trillion to the debt.  Maybe it won't matter, we seem to muddle along even with 20 trillion in debt.  But if there comes a day when it does matter it won't be pretty.

[Gavin]

Daryk I think you are making a big mistake by not taking mileage. That's a big deduction, and they make apps to track that that.

[ness]

Boy, I agree with Gavin.  Take the deductions that are given. Mileage could add up quickly. Couldn’t be that hard to keep track of. 

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Yes, I know that it could be significant, and am aware of the apps.  I have a hard time ethically deciding whether or not it should be work related.  I mean, if I go to a local mall while I am visiting a customer 20 miles from the office, should that be split in half.....?  Just one of the mental challenges.   Again, my contribution is small compared to my usage.   I really don't mind.  Then trying to recap all of the stops I made in a week, etc.  It's much easier now to track, but I am stuck in my way.  

[Gavin]

Deduct what you think is ethical. It does not need to be perfect but you need records. Home to first stop is commuting. No deduction. Home to office is commuting. personal errands not usually but if on the way, yes. Will post up a link to some guidance when not typing with my thumb.

[Old plug]

i realy would like to see them drop the whole  tax thing. and concentrate on things that do not cause more division among us. Devide and concur is what is going on in this nation.  Al these suggestions about more  jobs and what have you just are not possible if you really think about it. I undersrabd they have just gotten a manufacture to build a monster plant in the east. They make class parts for computes etc is all can remember about the function. I will not forget after all the job claims that the factory is highly robot automated. Where is the jobs in that. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

9 hours ago, Old plug said:

Where is the jobs in that. 

People have to set up and maintain robots.  Pays better than what the robot is doing.