It’s not just for the rich. I’m by no means rich but firmly in the middle class. I withhold the standard calculation based on the IRS’ own formula and i get a pretty decent refund every year. Mortgage interest, charity donations, and student loans (all things lots of people have) reduce tax burden a decent amount.
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hglman@lemmy.ml 9 months agoFor the very rich, its extremely hard to know what they own, filing taxes allows them to hide all the details.
grayman@lemmy.world 9 months ago
hglman@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
You’re missing the forest for the trees. There are plenty of ways to encourage actions without coupling them to taxes. Make the tax code simple, and put the complexity in the systems that deal with people.
max@feddit.nl 9 months ago
So your government could do what the commenter above suggested for 99% of the population. Got it.
Because that’s what they do in my country. Your income is pre-filled, and most people don’t need to do anything other than double check it and click submit. If you want to get tax breaks for edge cases like uncovered medical care, extra schooling, travel costs as a freelancer, etc., you just follow the mostly easy steps and fill that in.
hglman@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
I want the rich to be taxed; the system is broken bc it allows for loopholes. 100% should just get a bill.
max@feddit.nl 9 months ago
One doesn’t have to exclude the other. I sense the irony in saying this, being Dutch (whose country is considered a tax haven for the rich and corporations unfortunately), but we don’t have to pay for tax software at least. Worst case, you’ll pay for a tax advisor/accounted if you have a really complicated situation with shit like alimony and wish to squeeze every last cent from it.
grayman@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Over 90% of tax revenue is collected from less than 10% of the population. Tax the rich is a campaign lie. It already happens. About 50% of adults pay net 0% or get out more than they put in.
The middle class is shrinking and the wage gap is getting worse partly because of the progressive tax system. Only the top 0.1% have the ability to not care about taxes. And even if you taxed them at 100%, they have the tools and money to avoid paying taxes on the vast majority of their wealth.
hglman@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
Tax as a wealth transfer is exactly how to close the gap between rich and poor. You can see the picture but you have misunderstood how the elements relate. Not allowing the 0.1% to escape taxation is exactly what has to happen.
Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 9 months ago
Loopholes aren’t bad, they’re incentives for companies to do certain things rather than hard requirements for companies to do certain things.
It’s when it’s to such an extreme no or little tax is paid that there’s a problem.
bamboo@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Loopholes also get a bad name because many of them are carved out to target specific people, companies, and demographics in ways that aren’t helpful to society at large.