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Lawnmowing and Taxes
Once upon a time, I wrote college application essays. One of my favorites as far as actually being interesting rather than silly/trite was the one I wrote about tax reform. Once upon a more recent time, I used to talk politics among other things with Clara
Once upon earlier this morning, I mowed the lawn and thought thoughts.
What all this boils down to is that I'm still trying to figure out what a good, decent, legitimate and practical tax system would look like. (Note: those four adjectives are not redundant
For example: Is it legitimate to tax people under the age of 18? We fought under a rallying cry of "No taxation without representation" once. What does representation and such do to sales tax or income tax or other things that apply to youth? People have offered the following explanations or excuses for these issues, most people under age 18 get refunds each year as they don't fall into a tax bracket. Fine, what about those who do? Some students are in a tax bracket because of education funds in their name. Is it their money or their parents? If someone over 18 earned it, are taxes OK then? How do you guard against child tax shelters? What about people working full time to support themselves? Are they "legal adults?" Should they be able to vote?
What services do taxes pay for? Yes I know in general, but can I find a list somewhere? How does the money break down, percentage-wise? If I gave out points, there would be a few in here for people who could find me good unbiased data.
How many different taxes am I subject to? How about someone who lives in town X, county Y state Z? Is there a good way to figure out all the taxes someone pays without counting on one's hands? Again, data would be most appreciated.
What constitutes a fair tax system? What features must it have? How can such a system also be easily monitored/administered? Our current system works, but what would make it better?
I may try to figure out and post some of my opinions in the next few days, but I want to hear what other people have to say.
Once upon earlier this morning, I mowed the lawn and thought thoughts.
What all this boils down to is that I'm still trying to figure out what a good, decent, legitimate and practical tax system would look like. (Note: those four adjectives are not redundant
For example: Is it legitimate to tax people under the age of 18? We fought under a rallying cry of "No taxation without representation" once. What does representation and such do to sales tax or income tax or other things that apply to youth? People have offered the following explanations or excuses for these issues, most people under age 18 get refunds each year as they don't fall into a tax bracket. Fine, what about those who do? Some students are in a tax bracket because of education funds in their name. Is it their money or their parents? If someone over 18 earned it, are taxes OK then? How do you guard against child tax shelters? What about people working full time to support themselves? Are they "legal adults?" Should they be able to vote?
What services do taxes pay for? Yes I know in general, but can I find a list somewhere? How does the money break down, percentage-wise? If I gave out points, there would be a few in here for people who could find me good unbiased data.
How many different taxes am I subject to? How about someone who lives in town X, county Y state Z? Is there a good way to figure out all the taxes someone pays without counting on one's hands? Again, data would be most appreciated.
What constitutes a fair tax system? What features must it have? How can such a system also be easily monitored/administered? Our current system works, but what would make it better?
I may try to figure out and post some of my opinions in the next few days, but I want to hear what other people have to say.
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