Posted on 01/28/2005 1:11:48 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Abusive tax shelters, inflated deductions and other misdeeds cost the U.S. Treasury little when compared with money lost because some employee benefits and wages escape taxation.
The government could collect $164 billion more in tax revenue over the coming decade if it changed laws that exempt some employee benefits from the taxes that pay for Social Security (news - web sites) and Medicare, according to a study released Thursday by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
The panel, which provides technical expertise to tax committees, detailed six dozen changes that could increase the amount of money flowing into the U.S. Treasury, including ways to close the gap between taxes owed and taxes collected.
Changes to employment taxes have the potential to raise the most revenue, the study showed. Taxing various types of health coverage, dependent care assistance, transportation and other employee fringe benefits topped the list.
Another $57 billion could be gained if Congress made it harder for self-employed people to organize their businesses in ways that allow them to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes.
The list gives lawmakers some options to weigh as they contemplate major changes to government tax and spending policies during a time of increasing federal budget deficits. Some may not prove politically feasible.
Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record) of Montana, the top Democrat on the tax panel that requested the study, said some of the proposals "are simply common sense ideas, others may be more controversial and will have to be examined carefully."
Others suggestions include the following:
_ Congress could eliminate a benefit that lets homeowners deduct interest payments on up to $100,000 in home equity loans. The committee said the benefit "acts as a disincentive to savings and is unrelated to the purpose of encouraging homeownership." The U.S. Treasury would take in $23 billion more over a decade if it's eliminated.
_ The tax system for corporations that earn income in foreign countries could be revamped to bring in roughly $55 billion.
_ Lawmakers could expand telecommunications taxes to all voice and data communications, including cellular and satellite telephones, cable and satellite television, broadband, VOIP and other communications services, to raise $11 billion.
_ Tax writers could adjust laws that crackdown on corporate transactions that shelter income from taxation by exploiting technical rules for no real business purpose, increasing revenue $8 billion.
_ Rules could be applied to prevent individuals from inflating their tax deductions by overvaluing donated property, clothing, household items and conservation easements for a combined revenue increase of about $5.5 billion.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement that he "noted with interest" the suggestions to change laws governing nonprofit groups and charitable donations.
"While we won't embrace every recommendation, we'll give the report a close look," he said.
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On the Net:
Joint Committee on Taxation report:
http://www.house.gov/jct/s-2-05.pdf
Tax reform = Be careful what you wish for.
Somebody pimp-slap these idiots.
We don't want "tweaks and twiddles"; we want REAL reform!
Pass the FAIRTAX --- NOW!
"Changed laws" = raise taxes.
My how short our memories are. ALL interest used to be deductible until a few years ago, when the money grubbers decided they needed more taxes. They only kept the home mortgage exemption because they knew people would storm Washington if they touched it.
So it they want to look at "disincentives to savings", how about removing the tax on interest earned?
bump
Heres an idea, you could tax the air we breath and raise an untold sum of money.
The total revenue gain in this article is about 3 to 5 months of the deficit spending the out of control congress goes through right now.
How about a spending moratorium??
Want to raise billions? The only thing you need to do is remove tax deductions for corporate T&E.
This way my Knicks tickets will go down in price and Marbury would only be worth 100k per year. And real fans can go to the games instead of it being a perk for the wealthy.
Still paying for the Spanish-American war with the telephone tax. A 19th century temporary tax now updated for the 21st century. Remember the Maine? I do every time I pay my phone bill.
So much for Hillary donating Bill's used underware and deducting $2.00 / pair. Will we have a Bureau of Used Skivvies Valuation to track how much they are worth depending on number of holes, color of stains and strength of eleastic?
I didn't know you could do this. Anybody know how ? Since, as a self-employed person you pay SS on your earnings on your 1099, what is this person even referring to ?
My co-workers and I remember when that back door jewel was passed. That reform was a beaut.
When they say Regan rebuilt our military without raising technically they or right.
He didn't raise pay roll taxes what he and congress did was eliminate our deductions which was in reality one the largest increases in the history of the country.
They knew they where going to hit hard so the deductions where phased out over three years.
By the end of three years my previous three year average went from a return of a little over $2500 a year to less than $1200.
The average middle class with a family of four got hit for about $800 to $1000 increase and they where going after the home mortgages to till the lynch mobs started forming.
You can rest assured anytime they start talking about cutting or reforming taxes after or during a big spending spree they're fixing to hit you where it hurts.
We all said if they gave us one more tax cut we where going to be bankrupt.
The tricky part is paying yourself as little as you can. Could you argue that a full time engineer is worth only $5.15 / hour? The IRS would probably disagree if you try it.
It seems to be the law encourages home improvement.
Since if they didn't allow you to deduct interest on home equity loans(I'm assuming they mean like lines of credit). People would just sell their homes for better ones and forget improving the ones they have.
Ah - the column does shed some light. Edwards set up a corporation to avoid them - so he was not considered self-employed. Big difference. The article obviously doesn't understand the difference or there's something else.
New tax revenue for SS sounds great. Start with Congressional pay.
Ah - that's interesting.
I guess you could argue that engineers in China or India get
$5 per day or hour and you're competing with them - it's not far from the truth.
You can also rest assured that when Congress starts talking about monkeying with the tax code, it is really just a call for the lobbying dollars that inevitably follow in order to benefit (or at least not get hit) from the new rules. As an aside, We The People really are just a bunch of saps.
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