Is the Tax system fair?

Question

Income Tax, Sales Tax, Property Tax. We all pay taxes and wish they were lower but do you think that the current system is fair to all tax payers? Could taxes be lowered if the USA did not waste money?

Answer 1

Not at all. We need either a flat tax, or better yet, a tax based purely on consumption.

Regarding Amanda's comment: The president has absolutely no control over the budget. Nevertheless, we are currently enjoying a budget surplus under Bush and a congress that, until a month ago, was dominated by Republicans. And that's even after the bill for this war.

Answer 2

Fair? First off, you probably already know that the government is borrowing and spending far more than it makes from taxes. It would be beneficial to at least return to a balanced equation.

Now, who benefits from the expenditures? Do I benefit from blowing up a lot of Arabs and wasting our military budget and lives not threatening my livelihood. I don't think so, someone might benefit, but not me, so I don't want to pay for that. How about welfare for all those bums with nothing better to do than smoke crack? They don't even pay taxes. But on the flip side, almost every cent they get goes back into the economy for rent for some fat cat or food for some multinational corporation. Maybe the end recipient should pay more taxes? What about all of those old people who benefits there? How about fire and police and schools and libraries?

What I'm trying to get at is that fairness is in the eyes of the beholder and if I get to say how my taxes are spent, then what you want might get the axe unless you're willing to pick up the tab.

Answer 3

Of course its not fair. The only truly fair tax system would demand that every single citizen - rich or poor - adult or infant pay exactly the same. Every person in our great country gets the same benefits, the same military protecting them and the same basic rights. But alas, we cannot get any money out of a large portion of the citizens. Because of this we are obligated to demand that those of us that are more capable of paying, pony up.
I however can't wait until we stop paying people to reproduce. We encourage and reward this as though people will stop having children. Face it we will never stop reproducing because we enjoy the practice it takes to produce children too much.
We also are very wastefull. But the citizens keep demanding more services from our government. People are greedy and want their services to remain yet wish other services to stop. So our cowardly politicians will never want to be the ones to stop any programs.

Answer 4

Our TAX system explained in simple terms!

Sometimes politicians, journalists and others exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and it is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really mean? Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, I hope the following will help. Please read it carefully. Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

a. The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

b. The fifth would pay $1.
c. The sixth would pay $3.
d. The seventh would pay $7.
e. The eighth would pay $12.
f. The ninth would pay $18.
g. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." Dinner for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free, but what about the other six men, the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:


a. The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

b. The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
c. The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
d. The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)
e. The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
f. The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen , PhD
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

Answer 5

Nope - we are taxed way too much. Also, anybody that says that the rich don't pay their "fair share" are misinformed. I have a client that makes a lot of money but he also pays a ton in taxes and doesn't get any of the write-offs.

Most of the taxes that are paid are paid by the top 2% of taxpayers.

Answer 6

its not fair...i dont make much...but, i dont think that you should pay more taxes when you make more money....look at bill gates..he makes 500 million a year..he has to pay 40% taxes....what the hell does the government give to him thats worth 200 million of his tax money? of course taxes can be lower if the usa doesnt waste money.....we have to pay for everybody that lives here.....which i dont think is fair...some people dont belong here...oh wells...im not hating on people who get free rides...just that..it would have been nice if someone asked me....

Answer 7

Of course it is not fair to tax payers, as the government allows so many breaks for some and little for others

Answer 8

Fair? Not totally - but what in life is? It's probably as fair as it's going to get.

And yes, if money wasn't wasted, taxes could be lower - but my definition of "wasted", yours, and everyone else's are probably different from each other.

Answer 9

It has its flaws. Absolutley. If we had a better president who balanced the budget like the last prez instead of spending billions on war, eventually taxes could be lessened.

It's as fair as it can be, for now, and I'd rather pay what I pay now than live in any other country!

Answer 10

Compared to what I had to pay during the 10 years that I lived in Europe, yep, our system is pretty reasonable over all.

Comment to Rob D, above: Surplus? Are you nuciking futs?? Not since Bush took office, my friend! He inherited the first surplus in decades and blasted it into the WORST deficit in the HISTORY of the country! Worse that the combined deficits of EVERY administration before him COMBINED!