Jesus had a tax collector as a disciple. Some of the earliest Sumerian writing is accounting of taxes. I'd love it if there were none, but there always have been with civilization and there always will be.
As for what they go for, is anyone ever happy? Myself, I'm disturbed that my taxes fund a military that spends more than the rest of the world combined. It might seem worth it if they pillaged weaker countries so I paid no taxes! Your outrage may vary...
This is an excellent book on our current tax system here:
amazon.com
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
A Must Read Book on Taxes , April 13, 2005
Reviewer: David C. Wasson (Lincoln, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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In "Perfectly Legal", David Cay Johnston a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter from the New York Times does an excellent job in reporting the unfairness of the tax system. Whether it's the middle and upper-middle class losing their promised Bush tax cuts to the Alternative Minimum Tax, companies setting up overseas bank accounts to hide income, or the wealthy using a variety of schemes and shelters to avoid paying taxes Johnston is sure to get readers from all political perspectives riled up.
David Cay Johnston makes a few major points in "Perfectly Legal". Johnston points out how over the last 30 years the rich have gotten incredibly wealthier while the poor and middle class have gained little or nothing and that changes to the tax system are partly responsible. Few of us realize that if you combine all taxes: income, sales, property, gas, Social Security, Medicare, estate, capital gains, dividends, and all other taxes that we essentially have a flat tax. Another central point of Johnston's book is that lawmakers don't understand the complexity of the tax code and that seemingly minor changes often create enormous loopholes that only the super rich can exploit. Johnston also points out that if the IRS had the resources to enforce the law it would be able to catch many more tax evaders, which would generate billions in additional tax revenue.
Soon President Bush will propose a new simplified tax code. This may be a flat tax or a value added tax either way there are important questions that should be asked? Is a tax system that taxes income from work but not from investments a moral tax system? Do we want to live in a meritocracy where a person makes it on his or her own personal merit? Or do we want to live in an aristocracy where wealth and power are passed from generation to generation? Johnson discusses these issues throughout this book.
One of my favorite quotes from this book is the following: "We need to ask ourselves if adding to the gross national product is the only, or even the primary, measure of society? If a tax cut would add one more percentage point to economic growth, but come at a 1 percent increase in the crime rate, would it be worth it? If a tax rate increase slowed economic growth today, but financed a college education for every student with top grades, would it be worth it?" Read this book and find your own answers to these questions. |
