Posted on 07/20/2005 12:51:23 PM PDT by Your Nightmare
Members of President Bush's advisory panel on tax reform largely agree that the individual alternative minimum tax, or AMT, should be fully repealed the committee's chairman said Wednesday.
"I think the obvious consensus was on the AMT on the individual side. We didn't end up with a consensus on the corporate side, even though I think it's fair to say that I think all panel members felt the corporate AMT was really not an effective way to tax," Chairman Connie Mack, a former Republican senator from Florida, told reporters after a public meeting of the committee.
The AMT is a parallel tax system created in 1969; it was enacted after it was revealed that a handful of extremely wealthy Americans paid no income tax. But thresholds for the AMT were never indexed for inflation. As a result, it has encompassed or threatened a growing number of middle-income taxpayers over the years. Lawmakers and administrations have responded by temporarily pushing up the threshold, but have yet to come up with a complete fix.
It's also become a substantial revenue source. Full repeal would reduce revenues by more than a trillion dollars over 10 years.
During the panel discussion, committee member Bill Frenzel said he agreed that it was time to "bite the bullet" and press for full repeal, but warned that doing so will put a "huge burden" on the panel to find a way to make up the lost revenues.
The panel's vice chairman, former Democratic Sen. John Breaux, said that while he's not a fan of the AMT, the panel must examine whether the full repeal of the system would allow some of the nation's highest earners to get away with paying no tax at all.
Mack replied that if that were the case, the committee would have to make adjustments in order to maintain roughly the same tax burden on the upper quintile of earners that is now in place.
The panel members agreed that changes to the corporate AMT would best be tackled as part of a broad corporate tax reform, Mack noted.
The committee, formally known as the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, must present the Treasury Department with a set of tax-reform proposals in September.
Bush has set a number of ground rules for the panel, however. The proposals must be revenue-neutral. Also, future tax measures can't touch the code's most sacred cows -- mortgage interest deduction and charitable giving.
Sounds as though you have given up already Finial.
Your presumption that the income tax will always be with us is not correct. It will be eliminated - and none too soon AFAIC. I'd like to see my kids - and their progeny - live in an income tax free world free of the tax slavery we're now in. There are certainly better ways to raise tax revenues ... notably the FairTax.
There are presently some states in the US that have sales tax but no income tax in case you weren't aware of that - and they do just fine, thank you. If by "state" you mean other countries, many of those adopted a VAT to try to eliminate the embedding of tax costs in prices but also adopted sales taxes to boot ensuring a hybrid tax system and a certain failure from several standpoints.
Let me also point out that not everything is taxed under the FairTax and, while it's certainly nice of you to speak for the public despite your lack of information, you might as well get your facts straight when you do so. Especially with respect to houses and cars, many buy used items which are untaxed under the FairTax. there's every reason to think they might continue to do so.
It's interesting that you can pronounce what "DC" does or does not support - you must be one of the few to do so as most people can do no more than guess at such things. Who will be the next SCOTUS nominee since you have such a good source?
the 3.75% applies only to the illegal income when spent under the current system.OH so currently the seller would have $21.25 after taxes to spend but with your plan he would only have $2.00 after taxes to spend...So how is that different from the legal way again Einstein?
You don't seem to have a problem with your math showing what's illegal but you can't seem to make your math work your way for what is legal.
If the seller had the same margin with both the IT and the FairTax, Looey, he'd actually have MORE to spend under the FairTax since his profit would not be taxed - which it is under the IT. The seller would have the entire margin of his profit - untaxed.
It is the buyer (and not the seller) who is paying the FairTax remember? The seller merely collects and forwards it (and is paid for doing so).
Oh, and it's not mathematics ... it's arithmetic.
The broader the tax base the greater the tax take. The difference between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 'Nuff said.
My God, you got it. Reread the last sentence in 240. You finally understand something true.
we can not afford a broadened tax baseLOL! How does eliminating tax payers (businesses and corporations) become MORE taxpayers again?It helps lower my burden if there are more taxpayers.
Tax base isn't who is taxed it is what is taxed nitwit!
There has already been a bill introduced by one of the libs to have a sales tax in addition to the income tax. I believe that was what Principled was referring to. Present law does not prevent that.
With the FairTax, however, having both is not possible since the income (and several other taxes) are eliminated, the IRS is defunded, and the income tax records are required to be destroyed. Both taxes would not co-exist which is quite diffferent that at present. The FairTax actually protects us from having both and it calls for the repeal of the 16th amendment as well.
246, Excellent. I was going to make that point myself but if I spent all of my time informing the ignorant on these threads I wouldn't have time to do anything else.
You shoot yourself in the foot once again, Looey.
The FairTax base is consumption and that is much larger than the base for the income tax (which is based on ... guess what?).
So more taxpayers consume than earn income - far more so than the number of business paying income tax. The real issue is the total dollar base, though, (what is taxed) and you stated it correctly when you said:
"Tax base isn't who is taxed it is what is taxed nitwit!" (though the "nitwit" seems a bit gratuitous).
You're really agreeing with Principled's saying "more taxpayers" though you obviously don't realize it (tempting to add a well-deserved "nitwit" here - but I'm too polite).
One of your "wusser" posts Finial.
"Fair" is defined by the FairTax bill itself it needn't be defined by each person before passage since each can do that afterr it becomes law by controlling his own consumption and paying taxes when and in the amount it suits him to do so. I can think of nothing "fairer" than giving each person the complete control of his affairs in such a fashion.
In passing the FairTax bill, the income tax IS eliminated which you would know if you had read and understood the bill. Here's the link to do so:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.25:
Broadening the tax base helps LOWER the tax burden on each taxpayer - you seem to be understanding that exactly backwards.
See #250.
If the quality of your "... informing the ignorant ..." is no better, I think you shouldn't bother. They are already better informed than you.
Oh, and it's not mathematics ... it's arithmetic.LOL! Ignorant Fanboy Line of the Day.
No. That's wrong. There is more than just base affecting total take. The rate affects take too. Broadening the base allows a lower rate on those of us currently paying tax - given a revenue neutral take (which is what the nrst is).
But eliminating withholding and making taxes visible will put the downward pressure on spending.
My God, this is what any Fair Tax proponent says... at least that's what I have always said. I know of no nrst supporter that feels otherwise.
Who is eliminating taxpayers? You invented that. I said MORE taxpayers. Business and corportations don't pay taxes - they just collect tax from individual taxpayers (consumers) in higher prices or collect tax from individual taxpayers (workers) in lower wages or collect tax from indivdual taxpaters (investors) in the form of lower return.
The tax base is retail consumption - which is much broader than the income or payroll tax base. The broader base allows us to pay a lower rate of tax.
Illegals will pay. Foreign tourists will pay. ANyone buying anything in the US will pay. The tax base will be broader under the nrst - nobody disputes that except you. The broader base allows us to pay a lower rate of tax.
You'll find yourself all alone on this just like any of your math forays. Your IQ is fairly low?
But your namecalling is effective at showing your ignorance - again.
Who is eliminating taxpayers? Lewislynn invented that. I said MORE taxpayers. Business and corportations don't pay taxes - they just collect tax from individual taxpayers (consumers) in higher prices or collect tax from individual taxpayers (workers) in lower wages or collect tax from indivdual taxpaters (investors) in the form of lower return.
The tax base is retail consumption - which is much broader than the income or payroll tax base. The broader base allows us to pay a lower rate of tax.
Illegals will pay. Foreign tourists will pay. ANyone buying anything in the US will pay. The tax base will be broader under the nrst - nobody disputes that except you. The broader base allows us to pay a lower rate of tax.
My God! You finally get it!!!
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