Posted on 02/15/2020 2:14:37 PM PST by Libloather
“Not as a percentage of GDP”
So? Who says we must spend according to a percentage of GDP?
We spend what is necessary, not what a percentage of what we have.
“The “penalty” for day trading is that capital gains are taxed at higher income tax rates for assets held for less than 12 months. I suspect most day traders don’t make a heck of a lot of money when all is said and done.”
That’s not how the math works. Day traders can make a lot of money. They don’t pay the taxes as they make every trade.
“2017 $3.32 Trillion
2018 $3.33 Trillion
2019 $3.46 Trillion
2020 $3.71 Trillion (estimated)
the income tax breaks did not produce as advertised.
“
Um, those numbers have been going up. How did the tax break not produce more revenue?
“The collapse is going to be spectacular.”
What collapse? The one you hope happens? Seems there are idiots that want this country to hurt.
Great idea. Being retired and disabled, I long to be able to invest in something other than stock and CDs.
Then rein in the spending in the Swamp.
Their tax rolls have never been larger due to business increases.
Not a money problem but a spending problem.
What would revenue have been without the tax cuts?
Seems to be a spending problem.
No doubt about it. But if you refuse to address your spending problem then cutting revenue doesn't help.
Nobody that I know.
I think it's useful as a relative measure. It helps show the effect of tax policy on revenue as a percentage of the economy.
Right now, the value of all publicly traded stocks in the US is almost 1.6 times the GDP value of the total US economy of which they are only a part. Think about that for a minute. That's like saying that the value of all the real estate in Manhattan is worth more than the value of all the real estate in the State of New York.
We got here because politicians and the Fed keep forcing short term interest rates to near zero by injecting tons and tons of dollars into the banking system. Guess where those dollars end up?
Now you want to add gas to that fire with money from people who will be least able to withstand the equity markets reverting to mean.
Seems there are idiots that want this country to hurt.
I didn't say that revenues didn't go up. They did - marginally. But they did not go up as advertised. I think the current tax rates are great. But there should be no further reduction (I can't believe I'm saying this, but...). Since we are at full employment, and interest rates are at historically low levels, and we are still only getting GDP at +/- 2.0%, (2018 GDP was 2.9%, 2019 was only 2.3% with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarter 2019 the GDP was 2.0, 2.1 and 2.1 %)
I think we are already at the apex of the Laffer curve. (For those unfamiliar with the Laffer Curve, the Laffer Curve describes the relationship between tax rates and total tax revenue, with an optimal tax rate that maximizes total government tax revenue. If taxes are too high along the Laffer Curve, then they will discourage the taxed activities, such as work and investment, enough to actually reduce total tax revenue. when cutting high tax rates it will both stimulate economic incentives and increase tax revenue.) As a result, a further reduction in tax rates, will reduce tax revenues, as the stimulus gained from reducing taxes further will not offset the reduction in tax revenues which will drive the country further into debt.
We already have about 50% of wage earners not paying ANY federal income tax and a chunk of those people actually receive tax credits - they get more money back than what was actually withheld from their paychecks. The system is broken.
Now if you want to talk about reducing corporate tax rates, again, that is where you can get a better bang for your buck.
The math is the math. A day trader may not pay taxes every time they execute a trade, but the taxes will eventually have to be paid at some point.
If I buy $10,000 worth of Amazon shares and then sell it later when the value reaches $15,000, I have a capital gain of $5,000 to report on my tax return. If I held the asset for more than a year I'm paying at a long-term capital gains tax rate of 20% in the highest tax bracket. If I held it for less than a year, I'm paying an ordinary income tax rate on the gain -- which could be as high as 35% in 2020.
When you add in the cost of the transactions themselves (brokerage fees and commissions), the actual gain shrinks even further.
“The math is the math”
Well, I guess that settles that. Way to go!
There is far more to the tax code and the resulting revenues than the tax rates. Deductions, depreciation schedules, etc. all play into it. The roaring economy is because Trump knew how to manage all that so there is now investment into our economy.
As result of the roaring economy is that less social spending is needed. I say it is all unconstitutional, but far more people are self sufficient.
Absolutely a great observation most people forget. 6.7 million people are no longer on food stamps under Trump (and the average benefit for those remaining went down $10 per month because the benefit reduces as people make more money).
The enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP, government-sponsored health insurance for children and the poor, also declined under Trump—by 2.5 million between January 2017 and March 2019.
Enrollment in the welfare programs, specifically the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and “separate state programs,” dropped by more than 633,000 under the first 23 months of Trump’s presidency.
There was also, under Trump, a marked decrease in people claiming unemployment insurance. The initial claims averaged less than 230,000 a week during the first 127 weeks under Trump, compared with more than 270,000 a week during the last 127 weeks under Obama.
As we get a better handle on the border, and fix the sanctuary status of cities/states around the country, the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on illegals will be reduced.
Try a small percentage to index funds to see how it wold work out. From the charts, it appears to be a winner.
Sorry, but I just don’t want some government bureaucrat
deciding which businesses to invest in (or not invest in)
or influencing/manipulating the stock market.
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