How do you feel about money and taxes in general?

[PrincessFiona]

I know this is one of those prickly topics, but I think it's definitely worth talking about.

Where do you stand in regards to income and taxes? I know that back when I was earning 12,000 a year (and pretty much got every penny back in taxes that I paid because I earned so little) that I pretty much felt that anyone earning a 100k salary should pay more money in taxes. I'm not sure that I know why I felt that way...perhaps it was what I perceived as the injustice of them earning more or that I thought that they owed it to society on a moral/social level or I just didn't think they'd miss the extra money. At the end of the day, I thought it was right.

When we finished the years and years and years of schooling and residency and fellowship and finally entered into that 'elite' group I nearly fell over :thud: when my dh got his first paycheck...actually, we both did. With social security included, we pay over 80,000 a year in taxes (and we owe more this year!). This is not chump change here....What bothers me is not as much the amount but the fact that we pay a much higher percentage of tax on our income as well. With social security included, we hemmorhage out a little over 40% of our income to uncle sam.

What do we have for this? Is there universal health coverage, free preschool, low-cost or free university for our children? NO....The roads here suk, the schools are constantly begging for money (anyone want a magazine subscription from our school..its' the current fundraiser )

If someone who earns more complains about this, they are selfish...but what should we then say about those individuals who pay in less (or no) money and expect for those who earn more to pay for their pet programs....are they selfish too? Should my brother, who pays no taxes have a right to vote? (hypothetical question, because of course he should in my eyes) Along those lines though, if you don't pay taxes, should you have the right to say how someone else's money is spent?

I personally think there should be a flat tax...and that if the country wants to go to war, etc, the prez should have to come out and say "we want to go to war and we estimate it will cost x dollars. This will mean a 2% increase in payroll taxes ACROSS the BOARD for x years...please vote on this on Tuesday. "

We should all have to pay a little something to get what we want....why should people be able to vote for or against a war or welfare or anything else if they aren't even putting in their fair share in taxes?


flame away

[fluffhead]

I believe that wherever possible, taxes should be based upon use. Thus for example, your odometer reading from one year to the next would be multiplied by a factor dependent upon how heavy your car is, how much it tears up the road, and how much gas you use and exhaust you produce, and that's the taxes you'd pay for road upkeep, air pollution, etc. A cyclist or mass transit user wouldn't end up subsidizing the hummer drivers. Tractor trailers would pay a huge amount, which would be passed on to end users.
Similarly, product pricing would be based on "cradle to grave," where landfill charges are incorporated into initial pricing.
This model could be applied to many different areas.
For police, fire, and armed services protection, I'd say that higher earners should pay more. A progressive tax scheme makes sense, I think, with no complicated deduction stuff.
What about universal health care? Everybody has too much to lose to make this feasible in our current govt setup. The lobbyists from the drug companies, AMA, insurance, etc etc etc would nix any change to the status quo. Only a president near the end of his 2nd term could safely take this up, and even then, congress would quash anything with teeth.

[spotty_dog]

In all honesty, we thought it was horribly unfair that we paid zero taxes last year, even though we could afford to do so. But we didn't exactly send in an unsolicited donation to the government. This year we're pretty sure we'll get a lot less back or even owe, and it sucks but we truly feel that we can afford it, and others can't, so we should pay it.

We're making decisions every day to ensure our financial future. Some of them are tough. I'm working instead of going to grad school because it's the more sound choice. We don't have kids yet even though we talk daily about being parents because it's the more sound choice. I'm putting away the maximum into my retirement plan and then some; my DH makes a big IRA contribution each year -- it puts a tiny bit more pinch on our daily lives but it will pay off in the future.

I'm not going to propose a tax solution, I'm not an economist. But it seems to me that rather than draining revenue away from the government, we might consider redistributing it first. Why should cutting taxes be the first step when there's all the problems you mention, crappy public schools, and people who work hard but are still below the poverty level?

Funny you should mention roads, though. As far as I'm concerned, the government is subsidizing motorists and the trucking industry out the wazoo with the money they spend on roads. Do you know how much damage semis do to pavement? Or even SUVs compared with normal cars? Put an increased road tax on gas, shift freight (and government subsidies) to trains where it belongs, AND give a tax incentive to us bike commuters and we'll talk...

[PrincessFiona]

I feel torn on this one, Alison, but I think that I would feel much better about paying the taxes that we do if they supported programs like healthcare and education!

Also, I'm with you on the whole 'roads' issue. It's a real shame and I agree with the suggestions you have made!

kris