All posts tagged sales tax

Taxes Made Simple, Part II—I’m a Little Depressive over the Regressive

photo: Alexandria Sage

The email rocked me a bit. I thought it surely embellished. Its column format drew my eyes. Oh good. A quick read. Turns out, it was a loooong column. But the hook set and its simple title captured with clarity.

“None of the These Taxes Existed 100 Years Ago”

That was a bold statement. It can’t be true. Or could it? I’ve accepted these regressive taxes as part and parcel of life, telling myself well, there’s nothing you can do about it so just shut-up and pay up. How many times have I laughed at that quote—“Two things in life are certain—death and taxes.”?

Suddenly a new thought surfaced—This seems excessive.
But had I ever questioned before?

To be fair the list deserved some fact checking. I checked several sources and, with exception of an outdated few, they are all unmistakably true. I read through some comments on Snopes and couldn’t believe one person excused them away and called them “fees”. Fees, taxes, tax credits (yes, we pay for those, too)—call them what may but they are money out of my paycheck above and beyond what I already pay. The list also included the line, “I think we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes.”

Boston Tea Party: Wikipedia

I’m willing to pay my taxes and agree a few are necessary. But the term “fair share” is a bit out of hand when I look at this list of “regressive” taxes that all of us pay. Several caught my eye … IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Luxury Tax (what is that???).

And have you heard the latest? The United Nations wants to impose global taxes on citizens of developed countries to give to Third World countries to “end poverty.”
Yes, do an internet search. Somehow this one’s not getting the attention it deserves. {See related articles} We Americans know how our own “War on Poverty” worked. And now we might be liable to pay leaders of Third World nations who’ve demonstrated their own deficient use of their own resources? As Thomas Jefferson said, “Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto.”

Thomas Jefferson

How did this happen? I think another Jefferson quote says it well. “If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”

Are we still inattentive?

I believe these regressive taxes are nothing more than Jefferson’s wolves’ in sheep’s clothing. In fact, I think the regressive tax needs a new name.

How about the “repressive” tax?

Here’s the list. Try not to get too depressive.
{Yes, I know that’s not a real word. Too much Dr. Seuss!}

Peace,
Alexandria

The List:

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago…
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt.
We had the largest middle class in the world.

What happened?

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge Taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

Continuing along the same thread of Something New and Different by the Daily Post, the Tax articles a bit different than my usual inspirational fare:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/weekly-writing-challenge-and-now-for-something-completely-different/

Photos courtesy of Zemanta and Alexandria Sage

4 Comments

by Alexandria Sage on October 12, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in The Truth Shall Set You Free

Tagged blogs about Boston, blogs about taxation, boston tea party, city of Boston Massachusetts, IRS penalties, list of taxes that did not exist 100 years ago, opinion, politics, Regressive tax, sales tax, Snopes, the city of Boston, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson quotes, United Nation Global Tax

Posted by Alexandria Sage on October 12, 2012

https://simplysage.org/2012/10/12/taxes-made-simple-part-ii-im-a-little-depressive-over-the-regressive/

Taxes Made Simple | Part I, from the Guest Author

Taxes. It’s the topic of the day. As the United States nears Election Day it’s the hottest topic on the table. I don’t pretend to be an economic expert but I do own a business, meaning I employ people {families}—meaning I pay business taxes. So I do know a few things. Experience has taught me a lot and I’d like to share some simple principles about a topic that is discussed, explained, over-explained, not explained, but mostly … not understood.

There are two basic types of taxes.
The first is equally given to both rich and poor—these are called regressive taxes. Examples are sales tax, taxes on cell phones, gasoline, etc. The other type of tax is a progressive tax and these taxes affect the wealthy more than the less affluent. Income taxes in America are progressive. Thus, the income tax rates increase as one’s income increases.

A favorite way to raise tax dollars is to tax business instead of people. It allows us to feel like we are taking money away from the rich people who own the business instead of the working class.
Unfortunately, this is merely an illusion. When taxes are raised on any business, the cost is added to the goods or services created by the company. This means if the company creates something used by all people {families}, then all pay the tax equally. If we are honest, we quickly realize that business tax is a regressive tax.

Business taxes have another negative impact.
If businesses have to raise their prices on goods due to higher business taxes, another country with a lower business tax can easily compete and make the same product for lower cost.

Higher priced products made in America compared to the same product made in the foreign country with the lower business tax means our products can no longer compete in the international market place.

And here the dominoes begin to tumble. This decreases the number of American products sold abroad. A decrease in American products means a decreased amount of American workers {American families} needed to make the product. A decrease in the number of American workers needed ultimately decreases the number of jobs to make those products within the United States.
And I don’t need to explain what unemployment is.

With this unemployment there is ultimately decreased tax revenue that could be generated here in the United States. The increased revenue could not just return us to a robust economy but could fund our government and all of its programs.

Another unfortunate by-product of high business taxes is that it encourages companies to report profits abroad. In addition, our high corporate tax rate compared to the rest of the world encourages companies to move their corporate headquarters abroad. This again decreases income reported in the United States that could be taxed. Plus, having a headquarters located overseas decreases employment within the United States. Keep in mind the headquarters employs workers {families} from their location.

I realize that it’s nice to feel like you are “sticking it to the rich guy” who owns a company {families}. Unfortunately these taxes have the exact opposite result.

If you ask me, this is an attack on free-market principles that will lose. And who stands to lose the most? For starters, try the middle-class. Without a strong middle-class we cannot sustain jobs to provide for our families. What will this do to lower-income working families? What happens to the opportunities for our children? Without the revenue for the government what happens to the poor, the elderly, and the handicapped?

So again, who is the real loser?