Is it fair that only working people support the government with "income tax?"?

Question

It is possible to be wealthy and pay zero dollars in income tax in this country. An unemployed wealthy person with no investment or interest income would pay nothing in income tax.
The current progressive income tax structure taxes only working people, rich or middle-class, and burdens those who can afford it the least.
The current system also ignores people who are amassing fortunes thru illegal activity like major drug dealers.
Shouldn't we consider a tax structure based on wealth rather than income?
I am not proposing taxing the rich to death. There are, however, people who control fortunes and not paying a fair share of taxes.

Answer 1

Wealth is just money that has been taxed as income in previous years. If you tax a person's assests (wealth) annually, all you are doing is imposing a tax on their historical income in perpetuity. How unfair is that?
You can't do anything about illegally gotten gains because they are already...illegal.
The idea that the rich do not pay their fair share belies either your ignorance or bias. They pay an overwhelming majority of the nations tax burden already, and that doesn't even factor in the higher amounts of property and sales taxes they pay.

Answer 2

There are many wealthy people who have enough write offs that they pay little or nor income tax. My mother was long retired and collected Social Security and some small pensions. She paid income tax. I know because when she died last year my sister and I were stuck with her income tax bills along with our own.
Drug dealers don't report their earnings for obvious reasons and therefore cannot be taxed.
I do agree the wealthy do need to pay a small amount more than they do already. We don't want to tax them so much that there is no incentive to become wealthy or to stifle the entrepreneur.

Answer 3

The problem with your assessment is your assumption that "the rich" would ever simply sit on their money.

Wealthy people stay wealthy because either they know how to manage their money, or they hire someone who does. The returns on their investments are taxed.

And I have trouble understanding how people claim that the wealthy don't pay their fair share. The top 20% pay 85% of the nation's income taxes.

What share do you feel would be fair?

Answer 4

Would the Fair Tax not cover that?

Answer 5

No it's not fair - there should be a flat tax (across the board) If I make $2.00 or $200000.000 a flat percentage is a flat percentage.

Answer 6

I'll never understand how people can argue that paying for services that you will never use is "fair."

Forcing people to pay taxes on wealth is punishing them for success.

The only fair tax is a tax on consumption.

Answer 7

fairtax. thats what. check it out.