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.

Taxes in America

Taxes in America PDF Author: Leonard E. Burman
Publisher: What Everyone Needs to Know (H
ISBN: 0190920866
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?

Taxes in America

Taxes in America PDF Author: Leonard E. Burman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190920874
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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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?

A Fine Mess

A Fine Mess PDF Author: T. R. Reid
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1594205515
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
"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 -- in fact, we reach one every thirty-two years. T.R. Reid crisscrosses the globe in search of exact solutions to the urgent tax problems of the United States. 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. Reid presses the case for sensible root-and-branch reforms that will affect everyone. Doing our taxes will never be America's favorite pastime, but it can and should be so much easier and fairer"--Adapted from the book jacket.

Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax

Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Tax revenue estimating
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description


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.

Self-employment Tax

Self-employment Tax PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Income tax
Languages : en
Pages : 12

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Book Description


American Taxation, American Slavery

American Taxation, American Slavery PDF Author: Robin L. Einhorn
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226194884
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
For all the recent attention to the slaveholding of the founding fathers, we still know remarkably little about the influence of slavery on American politics. American Taxation, American Slavery tackles this problem in a new way. Rather than parsing the ideological pronouncements of charismatic slaveholders, it examines the concrete policy decisions that slaveholders and non-slaveholders made in the critical realm of taxation. The result is surprising—that the enduring power of antigovernment rhetoric in the United States stems from the nation’s history of slavery rather than its history of liberty. We are all familiar with the states’ rights arguments of proslavery politicians who wanted to keep the federal government weak and decentralized. But here Robin Einhorn shows the deep, broad, and continuous influence of slavery on this idea in American politics. From the earliest colonial times right up to the Civil War, slaveholding elites feared strong democratic government as a threat to the institution of slavery. American Taxation, American Slavery shows how their heated battles over taxation, the power to tax, and the distribution of tax burdens were rooted not in debates over personal liberty but rather in the rights of slaveholders to hold human beings as property. Along the way, Einhorn exposes the antidemocratic origins of the popular Jeffersonian rhetoric about weak government by showing that governments were actually more democratic—and stronger—where most people were free. A strikingly original look at the role of slavery in the making of the United States, American Taxation, American Slavery will prove essential to anyone interested in the history of American government and politics.

The Benefit and The Burden

The Benefit and The Burden PDF Author: Bruce Bartlett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451646267
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A thoughtful and surprising argument for American tax reform, arguably the most overdue political debate facing the nation, from one of the most respected political and economic thinkers, advisers, and writers of our time. THE UNITED STATES TAX CODE HAS UNDERGONE NO SERIOUS REFORM SINCE 1986. Since then, loopholes, exemptions, credits, and deductions have distorted its clarity, increased its inequity, and frustrated our ability to govern ourselves. By tracing the history of our own tax system and assessing the way other countries have solved similar problems, Bruce Bartlett explores the surprising answers to all these issues, giving a sense of the tax code’s many benefits—and its inevitable burdens. From one of the most respected political and economic thinkers, advisers, and writers of our time, The Benefit and the Burden is a thoughtful and surprising argument for American tax reform.

The Interesting History of Income Tax

The Interesting History of Income Tax PDF Author: William J. Federer
Publisher: Amerisearch, Inc.
ISBN: 9780975345504
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
The Interesting History of Income Tax William J. Federer "The only things certain are death and taxes" - Benjamin Franklin Yet few know America's interesting history of Income Tax, such as: *1787 - U.S. Constitution prohibited a "direct" Federal tax *1862 - "Revenue Tax" on incomes went into effect to finance the Union during the Civil War *1895 - Supreme Court made Income Tax unconstitutional *Woodrow Wilson thought tariffs on imports caused wars, so he worked to replace them with an Income Tax. *1913 - Income Tax was only a 1% tax on the top 1% richest people in America. *1943 - Paycheck Withholding began as an emergency effort to get funds to finance WWII. John F. Kennedy - "Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased flow of revenues to the Federal Government." (Annual Budget Message, Jan. 17, 1963) Thomas Jefferson - "It is an encouragement to proceed as we have begun in substituting economy for taxation" (2nd Annual Message, 1802) (176 pages, includes pictures)