Thursday, April 19, 2012

Tim Scott talking taxes


Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the first Republican African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the former Confederacy since 1901, sent out a release this week in honor of ‘Tax Day.’ “True tax reform is something we must move towards, as our current convoluted and complicated system is hurting American families. A flatter, simpler tax code is absolutely necessary to ensure a prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.”
  • The US now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world – the opposite of competitive. We need tax reform for jobs and for American families
  • 3/5 of Americans think we’re overtaxed
  • Our tax code is so dense, the IRS has almost 100,000 employees. South Carolina only has 2 CITIES bigger than that.
  • Americans spend 8 BILLION hours a year doing their taxes. Simpler tax code = less time wasted.
  • There are more than 1,100 forms and instructional booklets from the IRS to determine one’s tax liability.
  • Americans pay $35 billion out of pocket for assistance in filing their taxes.
  • In the past ten years, there have been 4,428 changes to the tax code. There are only 3,653 days in 10 years.
  • Did u know the instruction booklet for the most-commonly used individual form (1040) is 189 pages long?
  • The US ranks 62nd in the world in terms of how easy it is to actually pay our taxes.
  • A recent Heritage Foundation study shows lowering our corporate tax rate to 25% would create 581,000 jobs a year for the next decade.
  • The average American pays $160/year to prepare tax returns. What could you do with an extra $160?
  • This year, 100% of what the average American earns from January 1 to April 17 will go to pay federal, state, and local taxes.
  • The IRS accounts for nearly 80% of the federal government’s entire paperwork load imposed on citizens.
  • In honor of Tax Day – the IRS said in 2008 the Tax Code is so long its “become challenging” to even know how long it is.
Think about how ridiculous some of these facts are for a few minutes. SHARE this story below to let everyone else know how absurd our tax code is.

2 comments:

  1. Flat taxes are regressive taxes. They also fail to quantify in proportion to the citizenry's income, and are typically inefficient.

    I don't understand how a flat tax is supposed be better than a progressive tax if it levies a disproportional amount of pecuniary responsibility on those least capable (the middle, and lower income quintiles).

    Moreover, the claim that American corporate tax is the highest in the world is an overtly dubious statement considering America is currently the largest industrial nation in the world. Hence, the tax is commensurate to the relative size, and strength of our corporate sector.

    This plan smells of fail.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Flatter is not flat, and, his point is that regression has benefits. Under the current plan, half of all taxpayers pay no taxes. That means they have no personal stake in controlling spending. A flat tax of 15% means even someone making $10000 has to account for whether it's worth it going up to 17% to provide some new government scheme, even if it benefits him. Or, they can have a stake in a smaller government allowing their taxes to drop to 13%. $1300, $1500, $1700, these are real stakes in politics.

    Your point on the corporate tax rate makes no sense. It is not dubious, it is a fact. Your point is an argument that it is okay, but it won't change the fact. To your argument, a person deciding where to base their business would consider it being the largest, most competitive market a reason to accept paying more of their profits in taxes?

    As a man who makes a ton of money helping people file taxes, the argument for simplifying is overwhelming.

    ReplyDelete

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