America: Who Really Pays the Taxes?

America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? PDF Author: Donald L. Barlett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439129150
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
A disturbing, eye-opening look at a tax system gone out of control. Originally designed to spread the cost of government fairly, our tax code has turned into a gold mine of loopholes and giveaways manipulated by the influential and wealthy for their own benefit. If you feel as if the tax laws are rigged against the average taxpayer, you're right: Middle-income taxpayers pick up a growing share of the nation’s tax bill, while our most profitable corporations pay little or nothing. Your tax status is affected more by how many lawyers and lobbyists you can afford than by your resources or needs. Our best-known and most successful companies pay more taxes to foreign governments than to our own. Cities and states start bidding wars to attract business through tax breaks—taxes made up for by the American taxpayer. Who really pays the taxes? Barlett and Stelle, authors of the bestselling America: What Went Wrong?, offer a graphic exposé of what’s wrong with our tax system, how it got that way, and how to fix it.

America: Who Really Pays the Taxes?

America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? PDF Author: Donald L. Barlett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439129150
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
A disturbing, eye-opening look at a tax system gone out of control. Originally designed to spread the cost of government fairly, our tax code has turned into a gold mine of loopholes and giveaways manipulated by the influential and wealthy for their own benefit. If you feel as if the tax laws are rigged against the average taxpayer, you're right: Middle-income taxpayers pick up a growing share of the nation’s tax bill, while our most profitable corporations pay little or nothing. Your tax status is affected more by how many lawyers and lobbyists you can afford than by your resources or needs. Our best-known and most successful companies pay more taxes to foreign governments than to our own. Cities and states start bidding wars to attract business through tax breaks—taxes made up for by the American taxpayer. Who really pays the taxes? Barlett and Stelle, authors of the bestselling America: What Went Wrong?, offer a graphic exposé of what’s wrong with our tax system, how it got that way, and how to fix it.

Read My Lips

Read My Lips PDF Author: Vanessa S. Williamson
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691191603
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
A surprising and revealing look at what Americans really believe about taxes Conventional wisdom holds that Americans hate taxes. But the conventional wisdom is wrong. Bringing together national survey data with in-depth interviews, Read My Lips presents a surprising picture of tax attitudes in the United States. Vanessa Williamson demonstrates that Americans view taxpaying as a civic responsibility and a moral obligation. But they worry that others are shirking their duties, in part because the experience of taxpaying misleads Americans about who pays taxes and how much. Perceived "loopholes" convince many income tax filers that a flat tax might actually raise taxes on the rich, and the relative invisibility of the sales and payroll taxes encourages many to underestimate the sizable tax contributions made by poor and working people. Americans see being a taxpayer as a role worthy of pride and respect, a sign that one is a contributing member of the community and the nation. For this reason, the belief that many Americans are not paying their share is deeply corrosive to the social fabric. The widespread misperception that immigrants, the poor, and working-class families pay little or no taxes substantially reduces public support for progressive spending programs and undercuts the political standing of low-income people. At the same time, the belief that the wealthy pay less than their share diminishes confidence that the political process represents most people. Upending the idea of Americans as knee-jerk opponents of taxes, Read My Lips examines American taxpaying as an act of political faith. Ironically, the depth of the American civic commitment to taxpaying makes the failures of the tax system, perceived and real, especially potent frustrations.

If Americans Really Understood The Income Tax

If Americans Really Understood The Income Tax PDF Author: John O Fox
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
A critique of federal individual income tax policy, and a proposalfor overhauling the system that will appeal to ordinary citizens, liberalsand conservatives, as well as to experts.

The Forgotten Americans

The Forgotten Americans PDF Author: Isabel Sawhill
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300230362
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
A sobering account of a disenfranchised American working class and important policy solutions to the nation's economic inequalities One of the country's leading scholars on economics and social policy, Isabel Sawhill addresses the enormous divisions in American society--economic, cultural, and political--and what might be done to bridge them. Widening inequality and the loss of jobs to trade and technology has left a significant portion of the American workforce disenfranchised and skeptical of governments and corporations alike. And yet both have a role to play in improving the country for all. Sawhill argues for a policy agenda based on mainstream values, such as family, education, and work. Although many have lost faith in government programs designed to help them, there are still trusted institutions on both the local and the federal level that can deliver better job opportunities and higher wages to those who have been left behind. At the same time, the private sector needs to reexamine how it trains and rewards employees. This book provides a clear-headed and middle-way path to a better-functioning society in which personal responsibility is honored and inclusive capitalism and more broadly shared growth are once more the norm.

Tax the Rich!

Tax the Rich! PDF Author: Morris Pearl
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1620976641
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A powerfully persuasive and thoroughly entertaining guide to the most effective way to un-rig the economy and fix inequality, from America's wealthiest “class traitors” The vast majority of Americans—71 percent—believe the economy is rigged in favor of the rich. Guess what? They’re right. How do you rig an economy? You start with the tax code. In Tax the Rich! former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, the millionaire chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, and Erica Payne, the organization’s founder, take readers on an engaging and enlightening insider’s tour of the nation’s tax code, explaining exactly how “the rich”—and the politicians they control—manipulate the U.S. tax code to ensure the rich get richer, and everyone else is left holding the bag. Blunt and irreverent, Tax the Rich! unapologetically dismantles the “intellectual” justifications for a tax code that virtually guarantees destabilizing levels of inequality and consequent social unrest. Infographics, charts, cartoons, and lively characters including “the Werkhardts” and “the Slumps” make a complicated subject accessible (and, yes, sometimes even funny) and illuminate the practical reforms that can put America on the road to stability and shared prosperity before it’s too late. Never have the arguments in this book been more timely—or more important.

A Fine Mess

A Fine Mess PDF Author: T. R. Reid
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735223963
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
New York Times bestelling author T. R. Reid travels around the world to solve the urgent problem of America's failing tax code, unravelling a complex topic in plain English - and telling a rollicking story along the way. The U.S. tax code is a total write-off. Crammed with loopholes and special interest provisions, it works for no one except tax lawyers, accountants, and huge corporations. Not for the first time, we have reached a breaking point. That happened in 1922, and again in 1954, and again in 1986. In other words, every thirty-two years. Which means that the next complete overhaul is due in 2018. But what should be in this new tax code? Can we make the U.S. tax system simpler, fairer, and more efficient? Yes, yes, and yes. Can we cut tax rates and still bring in more revenue? Yes. Other rich countries, from Estonia to New Zealand to the UK—advanced, high-tech, free-market democracies—have all devised tax regimes that are equitable, effective, and easy on the taxpayer. But the United States has languished. So byzantine are the current statutes that, by our government’s own estimates, Americans spend six billion hours and $10 billion every year preparing and filing their taxes. In the Netherlands that task takes a mere fifteen minutes! Successful American companies like Apple, Caterpillar, and Google effectively pay no tax at all in some instances because of loopholes that allow them to move profits offshore. Indeed, the dysfunctional tax system has become a major cause of economic inequality. In A Fine Mess, T. R. Reid crisscrosses the globe in search of the exact solutions to these urgent problems. With an uncanny knack for making a complex subject not just accessible but gripping, he investigates what makes good taxation (no, that’s not an oxymoron) and brings that knowledge home where it is needed most. Never talking down or reflexively siding with either wing of politics, T. R. Reid presses the case for sensible root-and-branch reforms with a companionable ebullience. This affects everyone. Doing our taxes will never be America's favorite pastime, but it can and should be so much easier and fairer.

Who Pays? who Profits?

Who Pays? who Profits? PDF Author: Ralph W. Estes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Taxation
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description


Everyone Pays Taxes ebook

Everyone Pays Taxes ebook PDF Author: Antonio Sacre
Publisher: Teacher Created Materials
ISBN: 1087619408
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
Help students learn what taxes are, how they work, and why they exist. This nonfiction book describes the purpose and history of taxes, and includes a glossary, short fiction piece related to the topic, and an exciting activity. Above all, this book explains how taxes function in society in an easy-to-understand way. This 32-page full-color book covers how taxes work, the different types of taxes, and what taxes pay for. It also explores important topics like civic duty and democracy and includes an extension activity for grades 3-4. Perfect for the classroom or at-home learning, discover taxation, money, and public goods and services.

The Great American Tax Dodge

The Great American Tax Dodge PDF Author: Donald L. Barlett
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520236106
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
"Barlett and Steele...are masters at mining obscure documents to see the big picture where most investigators never even knew there was a frame...Year after year, Congress continues to make tax laws more complex and more unfair, then refuses to give the IRS adequate resources to ferret out fraud. If the tax code isn't reformed soon, the authors warn, the consequences might be dire."—Baltimore Sun "A hard-hitting expose of perceived gross inequities in the U.S. tax system."—Publishers Weekly

Taxes in America

Taxes in America PDF Author: Leonard E. Burman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190920882
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Arguments about taxation are among the most heated- no other topic is as influential to the role of government and the distribution of costs and benefits in America. But while understanding of our tax system is of vital importance, the complexity can create confusion. Two of America's leading authorities on taxes, Leonard E. Burman and Joel Slemrod, bring clarity in this concise explanation of how our tax system works, how it affects people and businesses, and how it might be improved. The book explores what makes a tax system fair, simple, and efficient, why our system falls short, and whether the new tax law promises much, if any, improvement. Accessibly written and organized in a clear, question-and-answer format, the book describes the intricacies of the modern tax system in an easy-to-grasp manner. It has been revised and updated to both explain the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017, the most comprehensive reform of its income tax system since 1986, and to examine its likely effects on individuals, businesses, and society. Among the questions discussed are: How much more tax could the IRS collect with better enforcement? How do tax burdens vary around the world? Why do corporations pay so little tax, even though they earn trillions of dollars every year? What kind of tax system is most conducive to economic growth? And, can taxes be fair?