Hi Ron and All ACB Members who would Support a Major Change in Our Tax
Structure.
Well Ron, you certainly are not wasting my time in stating your thoughts.
This is what the ACB list is here for...I hope.
How we are taxed and who benefits by the existing tax nightmare, national,
state and local, is important to all blind people.
You hit the nail on the head when you said, "What we severely need in this
country will never happen; that is, totally
scrap the current tax program and go to a very simple tax system; that is,
eliminate the, so called, loop holes and simply pay a flat tax that applies
equally to everyone. It will never happen because the current, extremely
complicated tax code, has been created on purpose to be able to slip in
special tax favors for various special interests, and supports of our
elected officials who are supposed to be representing us, but they don't..."
Because the majority of our ACB members find ourselves in the lower end of
the Working/Middle Class, or are retired on fixed, and limited income, we
are not able to take advantage of the "favors" that the corporations and the
super rich are able to do.
In fact, the taxation mess we live under puts the average blind person at a
severe disadvantage. The current proposed bill just passed by the Senate is
an example of the damage that could be done to the blind people struggling
in home based industries that depend on mail orders to eek out a living.
And just to digress, as a small business, not only are we paying an
equivalent sales tax on items purchased out of state, but our shipping
charges continue to rise, even though our contract funding remains the same.
While little ACB is not going to pick up our slingshot and slay the mighty
Goliath, we do need to keep open conversation on what we can do to move
toward a more equitable system.
Why are we paying the taxes we now pay? Who is benefitting from our money?
Why do we not have more say in what is being taken and where it is going?
I expect that you and others on this list are as careful with your money as
Cathy and I are with ours. We spend each dollar at least three times before
actually letting it go. And yet, our taxes are deducted without our having
any say in how much or where they go.
Whether folks in your income, or mine, or in the growing slums, we are all
of us held captive to a system that needs to be changed.
And not just so we can be financially successful. Of course all of us want
to be "better off", but there is much more to being successful than just how
many dollars we can command.
Carl Jarvis
----- Original Message -----
From: Ronald E. Milliman
To: ACB-L@ACB.ORG
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: [acb-l] FW: Sarah Palin: "This isn't legit"
I acknowledge that I am probably wasting my time here in an attempt to
presenting a different point of view, but I'm going to state my differing
viewpoint anyway.
Before I do, I want to let you know that the statement made in an earlier
post stating: "small businesses, under a million dollars in revenue, .,
will be exempt." This is in reference to the internet sales tax bill that
was passed by the Senate. This is not true; I just got off the phone with
one of my senator's assistants, and she told me the final bill did not
include any such income cutoff.
Now, to my other points. The vast majority of taxes paid in this country
are paid by the higher income earners, not necessarily rich, depending
upon
on what you define as rich. I have numerous friends that earn high
incomes,
and they pay an enormous amount in taxes of all kinds, including sales
taxes. They tend to purchase more expensive items from vehicles to boats
to
houses, and they tend to eat in relatively expensive restaurants. They pay
state sales taxes and property taxes on everything they buy. I have a
friend who recently purchased a houseboat for $427,500, and he paid 6%
state sales tax of $25,650. Then, in addition, he has to pay a
registration
and license fee and each year the registration and license fees are
recurring taxes. One of the vehicles he drives is a Cadillac Escalade that
he paid something over $62,000 for; plus and another over $3,700 in sales
taxes. He and I were discussing, actually complaining, about our income
taxes; he paid something over $35,000 in Federal and state income taxes.
When we compared our property tax bills, he paid nearly $7,000 in property
tax on his home, and I could go on and on. These figures are net after any
exemptions or what many of you refer to as "loop holes" in the tax code.
He
is not an especially unique example. I could give you lots and lots of
other examples of people I know who are paying thousands and thousands of
dollars in various taxes. The richest person I, personally, know quite
well, pays an enormous amount in all kinds of taxes. Of course, he takes
advantage of as many legal exemptions as he can, and of course, he invests
his money as wisely as he can to minimize his tax liability, but then, so
do I and so do you if you in a similar income situation and if you aren't,
you would if you were in such a situation. If you didn't, you wouldn't be
handling your finances prudently.
In contrast, I know many of my friends that are not working or are low
income earners, including many of my very good blind friends, and they
don't pay any income taxes at all, and some of them actually get back
several thousands of dollars through the "Earned Income Credit" program,
and several receive food stamps and other types of financial assistance.
So, the various high income earners in this country are paying their fare
share. That buzz phrase: "make the rich pay their fare share" is simply
that: a political buzz phrase that has been sold to the American public
for
purely political purposes to further a political agenda.
Could the higher income earners in this country pay more than they do? Of
course, they could. I could pay more. Some of you could probably pay more
too, but we can only redistribute so much income and tax the higher income
earners so much before it completely destroys the incentive to achieve and
to be financially successful.
What we severely need in this country will never happen; that is, totally
scrap the current tax program and go to a very simple tax system; that is,
eliminate the, so called, loop holes and simply pay a flat tax that
applies
equally to everyone. It will never happen because the current, extremely
complicated tax code, has been created on purpose to be able to slip in
special tax favors for various special interests, and supports of our
elected officials who are supposed to be representing us, but they don't
represent us anymore, and I'm not sure if they ever did. These special
favors built into the tax code work for all of our politicians, regardless
of which party to which they belong. In addition, the current complicated
tax code has created entire industries and professions, e.g. tax
attorneys,
tax accountants, tax preparers, tax advisors, tax exempt mutual funds, and
yes, the entire massive IRS.
Presented in the spirit of good debate,
Ron M.
Dr. Ronald E. Milliman, retired Professor Western Kentucky University
Ph: 270-782-9325
Email: rmilliman@insightbb.com
Chair, American Council of the Blind Public Relations Committee
Chair, American Council of the Blind's Monthly Monetary Support Program
(MMS) Committee
President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB)
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