Posted on 07/05/2007 3:17:45 PM PDT by indigo5
According to an IRS spokesperson in an article about anti-war tax resistance, 16.3% of Americans are in non-compliance with their taxes according to the Associated Press.That isn't fudging the numbers or coming up with creative tax deductions; it's simply evading taxes outright. While the story about the anti-war movement calling on people to not pay taxes to protest the war is interesting, the fact that a growing number of Americans are simply evading taxes is startling.
According to IRS estimates, that means there is $345 billion in uncollected taxes per year or roughly 2.6% of the national GDP. As a result of collection efforts, the IRS has generated over $48 billion of that amount in 2006 (or about 15%) according to CNN. These estimates do not include corporations using tax shelters (which "legally" protect them from taxes) or the rich using similar tactics. In 2006, the IRS audited about 1.3 million tax returns out of 130 million filed or an audit rate of about 1% according to an IRS source quoted by CNN. With over 16% overtly flouting the IRS, at best only 1% of those will even be challenged.
(Excerpt) Read more at associatedcontent.com ...
There are just too many and we can’t do nothing about it, so we should give them amnesty.
Don’t worry. We’ll all be criminals soon enough.
I listen to Bortz as well.
You are quoting *current* taxes.
You have offered no proof that this is a means by which people will not be able to avoid taxes. How many people already abuse reseller certificates to consume items that are currently untaxed for their own use, without paying the tax? What's to say that isn't going to continue if the sales tax is the only source of revenue?
that's been going on for decades. From the electrician doing side work on the weekend to the cash-paid bartender at the local saloon - it's prevalent. People do it to avoid the extra paper work of reporting income, they do it to avoid going over the "earned-income-credit" level, they do it to maintain government support checks such as disability, unemployment, or welfare bennies.
And the employer benefits as well - businesses running on the edge can stay in business by not having to pay withholding taxes for "undocumented" employees, not to mention increased insurance and government costs that are saved when the employee isn't legit.
Walk through any large city neighborhood and note all the small restaurants, bars, and shops. Odds are that half of them employ somebody "under-the-table".
Well, yes. What are you thinking of?
And the resale venue doesn’t ever see taxes in your view of the proposed code. Gotcha.
No, taxing people at the point of sale or service is too logical. We must support the current oppressive, over-complicated, politically-manipulated system instead! It’s for the Common Good!
My statements are in regard to proposed measures. None of which could viably be used as examples yet.
My “coke tax” statement was simply an illustration of consumer-based taxes.
Just call the supplier a “consumer” and the general populace is then simply paying for the initial costs plus tax. (and those pesky resale scammers foot the bill regardless)
I use the DRIP principle.
I think the American people are fast warming up to it. The natives are getting restless; some are leaving the evil reservation, so to speak.
One-term limits will be especially powerful when executed by the voters, not legislature. Senators will champion the voters call to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment. House and Senate candidates will have less vested interest in lobbyists and evermore incentive -- prodding/demand from voters -- to pass the FairTax and repeal the Sixteenth Amendment. Secure boarders and the snowball continues to gain momentum. We live in interesting times.
Or to put it another way thats roughly the number of cash paid illegal laborers in this country.............
Well, the FairTax argument goes something like this: evading income taxes only needs one actor (the income earner). I’m aware, by the way, that the employer can conspire with the employee as well. On the other hand, FairTax evasion will always require two actors: the seller and the buyer.
Well, it’s true that the resaler is the one who foots the tax. However, since virtually everything in the US is resold (that is, it’s not the manufacturer who sells it directly), resellers have a lot of clout, and the first producer to lower his prices to reflect his changed tax status will be besieged by resellers.
I have been dealing with a foreign business where the producers sell the item themselves and therefore give very minimal discounts to resellers. But anybody in the US who has to compete for resalers is going to realize that he has to give his price some serious consideration, since he will no longer be liable for many taxes that were automatic before and his buyers will know this.
My other complaint about our current system is the massive insecurity it generates (I never know what my taxes will be until the end of the year or actually, until my accountant has done them) and the fact that a large percentage of any tax we pay now under our current system goes to enforcement.
You don't keep up with what you spend or what you make.
The only thing you have to keep up with to get the prebate is how many are in your family, and apply for it. You get the amount of money at the start of every month, that if you are at poverty level that you would owe in sales taxes, if you spent every thing you earned each month.
Only new stuff is taxed. Things you buy at garage sales and thrift stores are not taxed.
No sales tax on used houses or cars.
the federal government doesn't need to keep an eye on what everyone is buying.
The states that have a sales tax aren't using the sales tax to keep an eye on what people are buying. Nor will the fed under the FairTax.
The income tax is slavery.
Then QUIT PAYING them. Real easy. I say more power to those who blow off fedgov, no matter their reasoning.
Another cogent reason for abolishing the income tax and moving to a national sales tax or a value added tax.
Another side benefit of taxing the states is that the states can each come up with different plans. I think in some states they will keep an income tax. Others will try other forms of taxation like property taxes, or sales taxes. Still others will come up with something new.
In any case the states can decide what works best for them, poitically and financially. States will be able to use their tax code as a lure for businesses.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.