Andrew Yang on CNN: "The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math."

😂

He also said his staff is trying to figure out what Trump's nickname for him will be and they've come up with "Comrade Yang."

George McGov... I mean, Yang is proposing $1,000 payment per year to every woman, man and child in the United States.

The best argument for that?

He asked the audience, "How much did Amazon pay in taxes last year?"

[b][big]"ZERO!!!"[/big][/b]

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NataliaT · F

I don't want to get involved in an argument, as it is not an area of much detailed knowledge, but if Amazon did not pay any tax last year, has the IRS identified actual EVASION? Or merely Amazon following to the letter, the arcana of the US Tax system.

So many people on SW seem to think that paying taxes is a moral virtue. Although the suspicion from their misunderstandings suggest they themselves are not taxpayers. In reality, taxation, however dressed up, is appropriation (theft!!!) of your hard-earned property. So your obligation, under the coercive power of the state, is to pay the minimum you are legally required to do. Not a penny less. But not a penny more.

Too many people think that tax is a black and white issue. But if you put together the tax code, the rulings, and countless years of litigation, no one - literally no one - has anything like a clear picture of who should pay what to whom and why, especially at corporate and rich-list level. Hence the overwhelming number of cases before the courts.

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@NataliaT

The question isn't whether Amazon broke the law.

The question was about tax fairness.

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

If the shareholders pay the taxes on the earnings and the employees pay taxes on profits passed on to them, the taxes are paid are they not?@beckyromero

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@jackjjackson

Many companies pay low dividends while instead concentrating on boosting their stock price.

Shareholders then pay capital gains, but at a lower tax rate than income, and which can be offset by losses on other stocks (edit: when stock is sold).

Meanwhile, the employee often pays a much higher tax rate (based on their income).

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

Current income generates tax which is paid either by shareholder and or employees. Remember that many high level employees in addition to Bezos own tons of stock. @beckyromero

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@jackjjackson

🤨

There are different type of taxes.

Income and capital gains.

Please re-read what I wrote.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@beckyromero

[quote]The question isn't whether Amazon broke the law.
The question was about tax fairness.[/quote]

Then why didn't either of the political parties change the tax code when they held majorities in both houses as well as the presidency? Amazon also paid no taxes year before last, before Trump's cuts took effect, and indeed paid negligible federal corporate income taxes over the past nine years. And Amazon is not alone in that regard.

"For example, the 258 Fortune 500 companies that reported profits in all years between 2008 and 2015 had an average federal effective tax rate of 21.2% over the eight-year period versus the 35% corporate tax rate at the time, according to an ITEP study. Meanwhile, 48 corporations had a tax rate of less than 10% over that period while 18 paid no federal income taxes at all."

http://fortune.com/2019/03/01/amazon-federal-corporate-income-tax/

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

Get a clue, paying income tax at the corporate and personal level is double taxation which is plain wrong. There is no income goi g untaxed. @beckyromero @Thinkerbell

NataliaT · F

@beckyromero Good point. I knew I should not have intruded on this discussion.

But as a final thought: what is fairness! (What is truth? - P Pilate)

In what follows I am not saying the state does not have to find sources of revenue: merely that any unhypothecated taxation is in essence unfair.

Taxation is the legalized appropriation under the coercive power of the state (theft) of hard-earned income by individuals and corporations, who, through toil or risk have improved themselves and society (Imagine the vast improvement Amazon has brought to billions through convenience, lower cost, greater choice, more competition etc)

So taxation is essentially unfair, depriving some people of their rightful wealth. The argument is invariably about how unfairness is distributed. Is it unfair that around 44% of US households pay no net income tax. Is it fair that 1% pay around 40 % of all income tax.

Is Sales Tax fair – it’s the most regressive tax ever devised.

Payroll Tax? Probably the stupidest tax ever devised.

And as for death taxes – pure legalized theft.

Taxation, however dressed up, is almost a synonym for unfairness.

My only point is that fairness in taxation is entirely in the eye of the beholder. One person’s meat is another person’s poison.

I enjoy your posts. Always make me think.

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

[quote]Is Sales Tax fair – it’s the most regressive tax ever devised.

Payroll Tax? Probably the stupidest tax ever devised.

And as for death taxes – pure legalized theft.

[/quote]

[b][big]BRILLIANT![/big][/b]

@NataliaT

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@Thinkerbell [quote]Then why didn't either of the political parties change the tax code when they held majorities in both houses as well as the presidency?[/quote]

Yang was never in Congress.

He's proposing changes to the tax law.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@beckyromero

[quote]Yang was never in Congress.[/quote]

And he'll never be in the White House either, at least not as president.

But look on the bright side... all he has to do is get a progressive democrat into the presidency, convince 218 House members and 51 senators (maybe only 50) to vote for his changes, and he's all set.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@jackjjackson

[quote]...paying income tax at the corporate and personal level is double taxation...[/quote]

The government is no stranger to multiple taxation. Someday, I'll do a careful estimate of how much in taxes get paid if you buy a $100 item in a store. First of all, you have to earn about $135 before you are left with $100 to pay for the item, to cover income taxes, social security and medicare. Then you have to pay another $8 or so in sales tax. Part of the $100 goes to paying the sales clerk's salary, which gets taxed, part goes for paying the store rent, which gets taxed as part of the landlord's income, part goes in tax on the store's net profit, part goes for shipping, which gets taxed (driver's income, transport company's profits), part goes for the manufacturer price, which gets taxed, etc. I'm sure I've left some things out.