Income Taxation

unsung

Curious to see the ideas from the board, do you believe that taxation based on income is just? Also briefly, what reinforces your thoughts on income based taxation?


I'll start...

I believe it is unjust and is theft. We are taxed for some needed services, that's a given. But my income shouldn't be taxed to give as regular foreign aid payments to other countries. My income shouldn't be taxed to have unconstitutional wars. My income shouldn't be taxed to pay for those that are able bodied and unwilling to work. My income shouldn't be taxed for social services for illegal aliens.

It's theft because if you refuse to cooperate armed men will show up to throw you in a cage. It's tantamount to slavery. If someone keeps 100% of another's labor is the definition of slavery, at what percentage is it not?

riotgrl

I am not necessarily opposed to income taxes but I dislike that they fund things that I am opposed to which you mention. Social services for those less fortunate, infrastructure, etc are worthwhile expenses. I would like to see an overhaul of the system though. No reason for me to pay my fair share and others to be exempt because of loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. I assume, if incorrectly then my apologies, that you are opposed to income taxes except at the state level to which I disagree. We are a physically large nation and we need to pool our resources to accomplish large scale goals, like infrastructure. It is a crying shame that in my state (KY) it has taken 20 odd years to build a new bridge to Indiana to alleviate our traffic woes and much of the problem has been raising money. This is especially problematic as one of our bridges was closed for 6 months to fix a major structural defect.

hedonist

It's not so black-and-white for me...though I wish it were.

Although it gets my goat to no end when I see the breakdown of how my/our taxes are allotted, I support a flat tax. It's no one's place to dictate that because someone earns X, they should pay this amount. Someone earns Y, then they pay this.

Who makes these decisions?

And more importantly, who says they're equipped to make these decisions?

This contributes to, fosters, loopholes...whether wealthy or not.

polaris_x

it's not the taxation you have a problem with ... it's the way those dollars are spent ... i think the notion of "theft" is excessive ... it's the law of the country ... a country you choose to live in and be part of ... you have every right to try and change how the country is and obviously, encourage you to do so ... but to cry foul and theft in this case seems a bit unfair ... not everyone is happy with how the dollars are spent nor is everyone happy with the laws ... your choices are simple: try and leave, try and change or try to adapt ...