Well taxation is completely necessary unless you have a steady stream of cash flowing into the government from another source, which almost no country has and no country will have indefinitely.
We can argue about rates and cut offs but taxation in general is not a bad system
Never said it was a bad system in general. But as a normal citizen not engaging in business I think paying taxes possibly 4 times (federal income tax, state income tax, sales tax when first bought new, sales tax when sold as used) on the same item is wrong.
Taxation is bullshit when it causes your standard of living to be significantly lower than it would be without taxation. I could be living comfortably right now instead of scraping by if the government didn’t have it’s hand in my pocket at every turn. Tax the people who have money to spare.
And now that I’ve typed all that I actually read the last part you said about rates and cutoffs… I’m gonna leave this here anyway since typing it got some of the angry out of me.
I was talking about general taxation, of course tax policy can impact people differently. That said your argument for taxation lowering your standard of living is a given, in that taxation is money from you meaning you have less to work with so it, by definition, would lead to less available funds for you. I agree with you though that taxation and welfare cliffs and taxation targets is disproportionately affecting to middle class.
Ideally government services I recieve from my tax dollars would outweigh the negative from what is coming out of my income. Personally I don’t believe that to be the case. Maybe “Standard of Living” wasn’t the right term to use, what I mean is if I got to keep the money that was going to taxes I would be able to buy a home, use my healthcare, and a little left over for hobbies and savings. If I had enough income that I could do all these things while still paying taxes I wouldn’t bitch but instead I’m paycheck to paycheck with just about everything going to rent and other necessities and really not getting much in return from the government other than the roads and post office… Obviously there are programs the benefit other people more but I don’t really think it’s fair to expect my income bracket to foot the bill for those when I can’t even achieve a decent life for myself.
Taxation is just a means for the Government to take money out of the system.
Given how our Federal Reserve bank functions (creating and destroying currency with ledger entries), I'm not convinced income tax is really a necessity.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Well taxation is completely necessary unless you have a steady stream of cash flowing into the government from another source, which almost no country has and no country will have indefinitely.
We can argue about rates and cut offs but taxation in general is not a bad system
sudo22@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Never said it was a bad system in general. But as a normal citizen not engaging in business I think paying taxes possibly 4 times (federal income tax, state income tax, sales tax when first bought new, sales tax when sold as used) on the same item is wrong.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 9 months ago
You should not be paying tax unless you turned a profit on the sale.
sudo22@lemmy.world 9 months ago
If you bought the bike years ago there’s a strong chance you no longer have the receipt/invoice.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 9 months ago
Taxation is bullshit when it causes your standard of living to be significantly lower than it would be without taxation. I could be living comfortably right now instead of scraping by if the government didn’t have it’s hand in my pocket at every turn. Tax the people who have money to spare.
And now that I’ve typed all that I actually read the last part you said about rates and cutoffs… I’m gonna leave this here anyway since typing it got some of the angry out of me.
i_understand@mastodon.social 9 months ago
@lightnsfw @Squizzy
You're assuming your income would remain the same even if it wasn't taxed.
That's a poor assumption to make.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 9 months ago
I can assure you my job is not paying me extra to make up for taxes. They’re not even keeping up with COL increases.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I was talking about general taxation, of course tax policy can impact people differently. That said your argument for taxation lowering your standard of living is a given, in that taxation is money from you meaning you have less to work with so it, by definition, would lead to less available funds for you. I agree with you though that taxation and welfare cliffs and taxation targets is disproportionately affecting to middle class.
Stumblinbear@pawb.social 9 months ago
If he’s “just scraping by” he’s not “middle class.”
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 9 months ago
Ideally government services I recieve from my tax dollars would outweigh the negative from what is coming out of my income. Personally I don’t believe that to be the case. Maybe “Standard of Living” wasn’t the right term to use, what I mean is if I got to keep the money that was going to taxes I would be able to buy a home, use my healthcare, and a little left over for hobbies and savings. If I had enough income that I could do all these things while still paying taxes I wouldn’t bitch but instead I’m paycheck to paycheck with just about everything going to rent and other necessities and really not getting much in return from the government other than the roads and post office… Obviously there are programs the benefit other people more but I don’t really think it’s fair to expect my income bracket to foot the bill for those when I can’t even achieve a decent life for myself.
i_understand@mastodon.social 9 months ago
@Squizzy @sudo22
Taxation is just a means for the Government to take money out of the system.
Given how our Federal Reserve bank functions (creating and destroying currency with ledger entries), I'm not convinced income tax is really a necessity.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I don’t think there is much of an argument to be had here if you think the only role of taxes is to take money.
i_understand@mastodon.social 9 months ago
@Squizzy
Probably not if you don't understand the roles of monetary and fiscal policy.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/whats-difference-between-monetary-policy-and-fiscal-policy.asp