http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...ests/2011/09/15/gIQAgdjcaK_story.html?hpid=z1 As President Obama and congressional Republicans argue over how to rewrite the U.S. tax code, the debate has revolved around “loopholes” for corporate jets and ending “carve-outs” for well-heeled special interests. But if the goal is debt reduction, that’s not where the money is. Broad tax breaks granted to millions of families at all income levels dwarf the corporate giveaways. Over the past two years, largely because of these popular benefits in the federal income tax code, the government has reached a rare milestone in tax collection — it has given away nearly as much as it takes in. The number of tax breaks has nearly doubled since the last major tax overhaul 25 years ago, with lawmakers adding new benefits for children, college tuition, retirement savings and investment. At the same time, some long-standing breaks have exploded in value, such as the deduction for mortgage interest and the tax-free treatment of health-insurance premiums paid by employers. All told, federal taxpayers last year received $1.08 trillion in credits, deductions and other perks while paying $1.09 trillion in income taxes, according to government estimates. Only about 8 percent of those benefits went to corporations. (The write-off for corporate jets equals about .03 percent of the total.) The bulk went to private households, primarily upper-middle-class families that Obama has vowed to protect from new taxes. “The big money is in the middle-class subsidies,” said Syracuse University economist Leonard Burman, former director of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. “You’re not going to balance the budget by eliminating ethanol credits. You have to go after things that really matter to a lot of people.”
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes Someone hacked the Washington Post?
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes Why have taxes at all if you're going to take in $1.08T and refund $1.09T? How about we just take that $1.09T and send everyone their equal share? The poor person's share will make a huge difference to him. The rich person's share won't mean much to him. Seems a lot more fair than funneling the money to the upper middle class.
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes That isn't what it means. It's more like we take in 2.17T, and refund 1.09T (except that we don't bother to collect and then refund most of that 1.09T). So, basically replace all current deductions and credits with a single fixed-amount deduction for all taxpayers? Ok by me. barfo
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes FICA isn't an income tax, so you are wrong to count it. The article talks about INCOME tax revenue vs. INCOME tax refunds and deductions. The government is actually paying out money to many people who have AGI less than 0. You don't have to be poor to have AGI less than 0. As far as the fixed-amount REFUND (not deduction), I'm glad you're warming up to the FAIR tax.
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes How did I count it? Yes, I know. Yes, I know. Uh, up above you (and the article) said refunds AND deductions. The deductions are larger than the refunds. barfo
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes You wrote $2.17T, which includes FICA and other payroll withholding. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-half-of-US-households-apf-1105567323.html?x=0&.v=1 The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment. "We have 50 percent of people who are getting something for nothing," said Curtis Dubay, senior tax policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. The vast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes, including federal payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and excise taxes on gasoline, aviation, alcohol and cigarettes. Many also pay state or local taxes on sales, income and property. That helps explain the country's aversion to taxes, said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert Deloitte Tax. He said many people simply look at the difference between their gross pay and their take-home pay and blame the government for the disparity. "It's not uncommon for people to think that their Social Security taxes, their 401(k) contributions, their share of employer health premiums, all of that stuff in their mind gets lumped into income taxes," Stretch said.
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes Anyhow, the more interesting part of the article in the OP is:
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes forgive the rest of my student loans, then I'll spend more money. Probably on porn though.
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes And all this goes away forever if we have a flat tax.
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes No, it doesn't. 2.17 is just 1.08 + 1.09. Income tax revenues, plus income tax refunds and deductions. Has nothing to do with FICA whatsoever. You are arguing that the government gets no net cash from personal income taxes. That's just flat out wrong. barfo
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes you spend money on porn?
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes and this thread is kinda hilarious actually... "us gov spends more money on families than special interests!" oh no! the shame!
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes What's funny is the president's screed against write-offs for private jets.
Re: Ever-increasing tax breaks for U.S. families eclipse benefits for special interes no, it was an attempt at levity.
