Trumps true colors come out

[kyle1974]

how about something really way out there.... like, if you make $1 a year, you pay 15 cents in tax, and if you make $1,000,000, you pay $150,000 in tax. no loopholes for anyone. no more 78,000 pages of tax law to go through. you earn it, you pay 15%. no credits for buying a prius, no credits for putting a windmill up to run your chicken coop heater lamps. 15% across the board, poor or rich.

[Slow&Steady]

In the end, it really doesn't matter. Washington is run by lawyers, not economists. In the end it's about re branding and rewriting the same tired old garbage until the public can be talked into begrudgingly swallowing it. Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming election, I wouldn't get my hopes up about things getting better. Our three presidential front-runners are a narcissistic megalomaniac, a career politician an criminal, and a self admitted self avowed socialist. If you guys can find hope in that mix, I've got some ocean front property to sell you too. Real cheap, just outside Phoenix.

By the way, I forgot to mention that we are about to re-elect the same duds back into congress that have been there for 20-30 years.

[cookemerkel]

how about something really way out there.... like, if you make $1 a year, you pay 15 cents in tax, and if you make $1,000,000, you pay $150,000 in tax. no loopholes for anyone. no more 78,000 pages of tax law to go through. you earn it, you pay 15%. no credits for buying a prius, no credits for putting a windmill up to run your chicken coop heater lamps. 15% across the board, poor or rich.

That would be too easy!

[jerp]

This may be more than you want to know, but here is a quick primer on the carried interest "loophole" everyone is talking about and Trump is railing against. Let's say I run a venture capital company. I send a bunch of you guys a proposal to raise money to buy a failing business - say a chain of auto parts stores. The intention is to get it running profitably over several years then sell it for a profit. You guys send me the money as investors and we buy the company. The way I get paid is two fold. I get a management fee along the way for running the company and I pay income tax on that like anyone else. However I have a chance to hit a big lick is on the back end if we are sucessful. For example I might get 20% of the profits over and above an agreed upon rate of return for you as the investors. So if we really do well when selling it, I might have a fat payday. The controversy is, that $$ is considered "carried interest" which is taxed at the lower capital gains rate instead of at the marginal 39% income tax rate. Reasonable people can differ on whether that is fair or unfair, but these populists who think changing that little bit of tax code would do anything about the deficit are delusional. More "politics of envy" IMO.

[Slow&Steady]

This may be more than you want to know, but here is a quick primer on the carried interest "loophole" everyone is talking about and Trump is railing against. Let's say I run a venture capital company. I send a bunch of you guys a proposal to raise money to buy a failing business - say a chain of auto parts stores. The intention is to get it running profitably over several years then sell it for a profit. You guys send me the money as investors and we buy the company. The way I get paid is two fold. I get a management fee along the way for running the company and I pay income tax on that like anyone else. However I have a chance to hit a big lick is on the back end if we are sucessful. For example I might get 20% of the profits over and above an agreed upon rate of return for you as the investors. So if we really do well when selling it, I might have a fat payday. The controversy is, that $$ is considered "carried interest" which is taxed at the lower capital gains rate instead of at the marginal 39% income tax rate. Reasonable people can differ on whether that is fair or unfair, but these populists who think changing that little bit of tax code would do anything about the deficit are delusional. More "politics of envy" IMO.

^Yep.

[txwhitetail]

This may be more than you want to know, but here is a quick primer on the carried interest "loophole" everyone is talking about and Trump is railing against. Let's say I run a venture capital company. I send a bunch of you guys a proposal to raise money to buy a failing business - say a chain of auto parts stores. The intention is to get it running profitably over several years then sell it for a profit. You guys send me the money as investors and we buy the company. The way I get paid is two fold. I get a management fee along the way for running the company and I pay income tax on that like anyone else. However I have a chance to hit a big lick is on the back end if we are sucessful. For example I might get 20% of the profits over and above an agreed upon rate of return for you as the investors. So if we really do well when selling it, I might have a fat payday. The controversy is, that $$ is considered "carried interest" which is taxed at the lower capital gains rate instead of at the marginal 39% income tax rate. Reasonable people can differ on whether that is fair or unfair, but these populists who think changing that little bit of tax code would do anything about the deficit are delusional. More "politics of envy" IMO.

Yep

[bdchorn]

Where's the socialism? Lowering the corporate tax rate and closing loopholes re: carried interest are both great ideas

[tvc184]

Don't sound socialist to me..

I can't figure out the socialism angle either.

[sir shovelhands]

The top 1 percent already pay more in taxes than the bottom 90.

Looks bad until you realize that top 0.1% (not even the top 1%!) controls more wealth than the bottom 90%:



Inequality in the control of wealth will yield that result

[Sticks&Strings]

Flat tax and or sales tax is the way in my opinion. Sales tax generates income from everyone who tries to avoid paying taxes.

I do like that trump wants to bring corporations back to the us. And not have the Chinese manufacture everything for us. Lower corporate tax rates could generate a small fortune by making this country a desirable place to operate. And I don't know trumps plan, but I do know that the man knows how to run a profitable organization

[Ætheling]

I can't figure out the socialism angle either.

The poor not having to pay taxes? Can't figure out what's socialstic about that either. Lol

[Drycreek3189]

Don't sound socialist to me..

It ain't.

[kyle1974]

Flat tax and or sales tax is the way in my opinion. Sales tax generates income from everyone who tries to avoid paying taxes.

I do like that trump wants to bring corporations back to the us. And not have the Chinese manufacture everything for us. Lower corporate tax rates could generate a small fortune by making this country a desirable place to operate. And I don't know trumps plan, but I do know that the man knows how to run a profitable organization

sales tax has issues... take a person that played by the (unfair) rules their whole life, paid taxes, and now has a nest egg. NOW they're taxed at a high consumption rate to offset the lack of an income tax?

flat tax makes the most sense. the people that pay today, pay tomorrow, just under a much more simplified plan. Of course, it's a pipe dream that will never happen...

[sir shovelhands]

sales tax has issues... take a person that played by the (unfair) rules their whole life, paid taxes, and now has a nest egg. NOW they're taxed at a high consumption rate to offset the lack of an income tax?

flat tax makes the most sense. the people that pay today, pay tomorrow, just under a much more simplified plan. Of course, it's a pipe dream that will never happen...

We already have a significant number of flat taxes, to name a few:
federal and state gas taxes
liquor tax
local and/or state property tax
cigarettes

Regressive taxes:
sales tax (flat taxes on necessities are regressive by nature)
stamps
Vehicle registration
Vehicle inspection
Social security

All of these burden the poor more than the rich: this is evened out by a progressive income tax. Now, what the fairest percentages and brackets sizes should be...well that's highly debatable.

[Sticks&Strings]

sales tax has issues... take a person that played by the (unfair) rules their whole life, paid taxes, and now has a nest egg. NOW they're taxed at a high consumption rate to offset the lack of an income tax?

flat tax makes the most sense. the people that pay today, pay tomorrow, just under a much more simplified plan. Of course, it's a pipe dream that will never happen...

I'm not following you. They played unfair but paid taxes?????

I'm referring to those who play unfairly and never pay taxes. With a sales tax, they will have to pay taxes if they buy anything new. Granted it's not perfect but it in conjunction with a flat tax seem to cover more folks. The biggest issue to me is the resale market. However it sure helps keep your crap from depreciating as bad. But that in turn could cause economic issues too.